LOS ANGELES
Federal officials stated that a Los Angeles man who ran a Beverly Hills luxury watch consignment business and was known as “The Timepiece Gentleman” pleaded guilty Friday to swindling dozens of his customers out of at least $5.6 million.
Anthony Farrer, 36, formerly of downtown Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. According to officials, he has been in federal custody since November 2023.
(News Report 2024)
According to his plea agreement, from November 2022 to November 2023, Farrer used his business—also called “The Timepiece Gentlemen”—to connect purchasers and sellers of high-end watches.
In a typical consignment sale, a client ships a watch to The Timepiece Gentleman, and Farrer takes possession of it. He agrees to display it at his Beverly Hills store and market it online and through social media.
The items involved in this case included luxury watches by Rolex, Richard Mille, and Patek Phillipe, among others.
Once the watch was sold, Farrer was supposed to remit the sales proceeds back to the client minus a consignment fee, which typically was approximately 5% of the sales price.
If the watch did not sell within a specific time or for a specified price, Farrer was to return it to the client.
However, instead of remitting watch sales proceeds—or the unsold watches themselves—back to the clients, Farrer sold the client watches and kept the proceeds for himself. He also used client watches—without the client’s knowledge or permission—as collateral for loans that he took out from lenders.
When a client asked about the status of a watch on consignment sale, Farrer lied and said that the watch had not yet been sold. In fact, Farrer already had sold the watch or otherwise disposed of it, keeping the funds for his own personal benefit.
In addition to his consignment sale business, Farrer also purported to purchase watches on behalf of his clients.
Typically, a client sends funds to Farrer, often by wire transfers to his bank accounts or through payment processors such as Zelle, for the purpose of Farrer locating and buying a specified watch on the client’s behalf.
But in fact, Farrer took the clients’ money and used it for other purposes, including to fund his lavish lifestyle, which included buying or leasing luxury automobiles, apartments, and other luxury goods.
When a client who had sent him money asked Farrer about the status of a watch purchase, Farrer often sent another watch to the client to tide the client over or lull them into a false sense of security regarding the status of the purchase.
Like a Ponzi scheme, the other watch Farrer sent to the client often belonged to clients who had themselves sent him that watch for a consignment sale. These clients were unaware Farrer was using their watches for that purpose, rather than attempting to sell the watches on behalf of the clients.
Farrer fraudulently obtained money and property belonging to more than 40 victims and caused total losses of at least $5.6 million.
U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a Jan. 31, sentencing hearing. At that hearing, Farrer will face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count.
The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Beverly Hills Police Department investigated this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua O. Mausner of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting this case.