Seal Beach Realtor Faces 33 Felonies for Alleged House Flipping Scam

A Seal Beach-based realtor is expected in court today to answer for dozens of felony counts of theft, fraud and the financial exploitation of elders.

John Wesley Martynec, 36, of Long Beach is accused of stealing $302,000 from investors for whom he promised to flip houses. According to investigators, Martynec didn’t buy or the sell the houses that he told investors he would. Now he faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all 33 counts.

Seal Beach Police arrested Martynec in August after an eight-month investigation. According to police, Martynec lured victims into an investment pool to buy foreclosed homes in Los Angeles with promises of quick returns on their investment.

“He told them that they were going to be buying foreclosed homes in Los Angeles County at low prices, rehab them and sell them for a profit,” Seal Beach Police Sgt. Steve Bowles said when Martynec was arrested in August.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Martynec targeted four men, including two 78-year-olds, and repeatedly bilked them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, falsifying property records and issuing false investment summaries and tax forms to them.

Martynec ran Samax Real Estate LLC on Ocean Avenue in Seal Beach. He e-mailed his investors updates about the properties, sent them deeds of ownership and claimed to be investing the profits into new investments, said police. But then investors began demanding that their money be returned. When the profits didn't materialize after six months as promised, and Martynec stopped returning calls, his investors called the police last December, said Bowles.

Out on $150,000 bail, Martynec is charged with:

• Eight felony counts each of grand theft and selling securities in issuer transactions without qualification.
• Six felony counts each of untrue statements in connection with a purchase or sale of securities.
• The use of a scheme to defraud.
• Five felony counts of financial exploitation of an elder.
• Additional sentencing enhancements related to the loss of over $100,000, property loss exceeding $200,000 and aggravated white-collar crime over $100,000.