Former Lawyer Sentenced in Vegas Money Fraud Scheme

A disbarred California attorney used her family lending business as a platform to secure over $8 million in investments that were used to pay for spending sprees in Las Vegas and leading a lavish lifestyle at the Wynn before she was asked to leave.

Slots Whisperer

If someone proclaims themselves to be a slots whisperer, then chances are they got very lucky and don’t realize the odds are stacked against them, or they are looking for some free publicity to plug whatever product they are repping. A former lawyer, Sara Jacqueline King, 41, who touted herself as just such a slot expert, has recently been sentenced to jail.

King stated she was indeed a slots whisperer and had an unbeatable strategy that never failed her. It turned out that her strategy was foolproof because it was always other people’s money she was losing and not her own.

Luxury Loan Scam

It has been discovered that King misled investors who believed they were investing in her family business, King Family Lending LLC (KFL), which provided short-term, high-interest loans to high-wealth individuals such as celebrities, actors, and athletes who collateralized their loans with jewelry, cars, or other material possessions. They have been described as payday loans for millionaires living above their means.

During a six-month gambling spree, when she lived in a VIP suite at the Wynn, King blew through the investor money to the tune of $8.7 million and was eventually asked to leave the Wynn when management found out she had been trying to scam employees and fellow guests.

Kamran Pahlavi, King’s ex-husband and the great-nephew of the last Shah of Iran, introduced his wife to LDR International, an investor in KFL, which led to them losing millions. Pahlavi then filed for divorce from King and moved to Morocco after realizing he had been married to “the female Bernie Madoff.”

Slammer Time

Earlier this month, District Judge David O. Carter ordered King to pay $8,785,045 in restitution to her victims in addition to serving 21 months in federal prison.

The former Newport Beach attorney did not do herself any favors when, after pleading guilty to money laundering and wire fraud but before sentencing, she went on a podcast with crime reporter Michelle McPhee and described herself as “Lady Mafia” and said she could “sell anything—even fire to the devil.”

‘I love everything mafia. Always been fascinated by the mafia because I love the power moves. I always try to be the girl at the guy’s table,’ she said. Sam Cross, King’s criminal defense attorney, asked the judge for leniency and a sentence of home confinement or six months in prison, citing that she was living in a “vicious cycle,” and noted his client had “lost everything.”

However, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Waier wasn’t having it and allowed a letter to be read from a former investor who had been defrauded. King was accused of weaponizing her knowledge of the law to “destroy the lives of those who trusted her.”

“This wasn’t a mistake,” the investor wrote. “It was an elaborate, sustained scheme built on lie after lie. What she did took planning, effort, and cold disregard for the damage it would cause. She took not only my money, but my peace, my trust in others, and my ability to feel safe in my relationships.”

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