Seattle – A former real estate professional who operated a real estate investment fund was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 55 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Tamara King, aka Tamara Waln, 56, of Toledo, Ohio, previously resided in Bellevue and Kirkland, Washington. King was convicted in December 2025 following an 8-day jury trial. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez noted that King refuses to accept responsibility for her actions saying, “King testified falsely, she deliberately lied on the witness stand… She was the primary instigator of this fraud… for the most base motivation of all: pure greed.”
“This defendant stole from those who invested not just their money, but their dreams of a…
This type of fraud targets the supply chain and accounts payable departments of businesses.
- Invoice Manipulation: Criminals intercept a legitimate invoice between a supplier and a client and change the banking details to their own. The client pays the bill thinking they are paying their trusted vendor.
- Kickbacks and Bribery: A vendor secretly pays an employee of the purchasing company to ensure their bid is successful or to overlook inflated pricing.