A North Texas man and his ex-wife have been indicted in Seattle on federal charges accusing them of collecting $2.25 million for a real estate investment fund and pocketing much of the money for themselves.by a federal grand jury in Washington State on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.Waln solicited money from 22 victims from 2009 to 2013 for a fund called Halcyon.
Waln married King, also a real estate agent, in 2013. Prosecutors allege they began jointly managing the investment fund. Between 2014 and 2018, the couple moved the money from the fund to their personal accounts, transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. In some instances, the couple wrote secret memos to characterize the transfers as “loans,” but none of the loans were repaid and investors were not made aware of them.
Waln and King were required to distribute the funds to investors in 2019. But by the end of 2018, all the money had been misappropriated, authorities allege. Waln lied to investors, claiming the fund’s general contractor had been diagnosed with cancer, which would result in a two- to three-year delay.In all, Waln and King are charged with conspiracy, eight counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.