SANTA ANA, California
A Newport Beach lawyer who claimed she was providing loans to the rich and famous has agreed to plead guilty to federal felony charges for using her investors’ money to fund her lavish lifestyle, causing them to lose more than $8 million, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Sara Jacqueline King, 39, is charged with wire fraud and money laundering in two-count information.
King is expected to make her initial court appearance on June 20.
According to her plea agreement, King operated King Family Lending LLC. This Newport Beach-based company purportedly gave short-term, high-interest loans to professional athletes, celebrities, and other high-net-worth individuals.
The borrowers’ assets supposedly secured the loans, including designer handbags, watches, luxury automobiles, yachts, and earnings from guaranteed sports contracts.
From January 2022 until January 2023, King – through her company – recruited investors to fund her business’s loans purportedly.
She admitted telling investors their investments were secured by the same collateral as the loans.
King promised to retain possession of the collateral and that if a borrower defaulted, she would sell the collateral to pay the investor in full.
King said she would keep a percentage of the interest earned from the loans and pass along a percentage of the interest to victim investors, including their initial investment.
During this period, King never initiated or funded any loan. Instead, she used victims’ funds to gamble at Las Vegas casinos and support her lavish lifestyle.
King admitted to causing five investors to lose more than $8 million. She has agreed that the applicable restitution amount, in this case, is at least $8.7 million.
She admitted to withdrawing approximately $132,156 of investor money from King Family Lending’s bank account to purchase a Porsche Taycan electric sports car.
The FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Waier of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.