In a decisive crackdown on financial fraud, Gardena man Anthony Roy Martinez has been nailed with a whopping 52 felony charges for illicit securities dealings in Los Angeles, conning investors out of over a cool million dollars, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office reported.

Martinez (dob 9/23/1955), found himself on the losing end of the law after a jury declared him guilty of grand theft, selling unqualified securities, and peddling lies alongside his investment pitches.

"This guilty verdict sends a clear message that fraudulent schemes targeting innocent investors will not be tolerated in our communities," District Attorney George Gascón affirmed in a statement.

Between 2011 and 2016, this operator ensnared his victims mainly at real estate workshops across California and elsewhere, flaunting too-good-to-be-true investment opportunities in non-performing second trust deeds and stakes in his unregulated outfit, Asset Ventures, LLC, with his shenanigans involving around 57 securities transactions, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Held in cuffs, Martinez now waits for his fate to be sealed on May 15, 2024, with the gavel coming down at the Burbank Superior Court.