Seal Beach Realtor Pleads Guilty to Fraud

A Seal Beach realtor pleaded guilty today to stealing $302,000 from investors with bogus promises to buy and re-sell foreclosed homes.

John Wesley Martynec, 36, took the money from four investors, including two 78-year-old men, between August 2009 and August 2010, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. Martynec told the investors he had 10 years of experience buying and flipping foreclosed homes for profit.

Martynec did not buy any property with the investors' money, according to prosecutors. One victim realized the documentation Martynec provided him was fake and went to Seal Beach police.

Martynec pleaded guilty to two felony counts of grand theft, one felony count of untrue statements in connection with a purchase or sale of securities and use of a fraudulent scheme, one felony count of financial exploitation of an elder, with a sentencing enhancement for property loss more than $200,000. Martynec, who is scheduled to be sentenced June 8, faces up to three years in prison.

-City News Service