Downey realtor accused of swindling $1.8 million

A Downey man is a among a pair of real estate workers accused of a stealing a combined $1.8 million from a Norwalk company.

Licensed realtor Elek Andrade, 27, of Downey and real estate broker John Wesley Martynec, 38, of Long Beach are accused by sheriff’s deputies of 102 counts grand theft and identity theft.

Both men were arrested Wednesday. They are in jail on $1.79 million bail.

Deputies say the pair diverted money from JTR Real Estate in Norwalk.

JTR was in the business of purchasing residential real estate properties, fixing them up, and reselling them for profit. To avoid going through the long eviction process, the company would offer cash payouts to get renters to move out early.

Deputies say that between 2003 and 2008 that Andrade and Martynec submitted fake “move-out” invoices and then kept the money for themselves.

Deputies also accuse the men of submitting construction invoices for work that was never done.

The houses involved in the alleged crimes were in Anaheim, Compton, Covina, Downey, El Monte, Inglewood, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Montebello, Placentia, Pomona, Rosemead, South Gate, Temple City, West Covina and Whittier.