'Timepiece Gentleman' Anthony Farrer Sentenced
Former Watch Dealer Receives Nearly Six Years For Fraud
In a hearing today in Los Angeles, United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton sentenced Anthony Farrer - also known as the Timepiece Gentleman or TPG - to 70 months in prison for defrauding customers of his watch reselling business.
In October, Mr. Farrer pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. He has been in federal custody since November 7 2023.
From the Justice Department press release:
“This defendant stole millions of dollars from customers who trusted him and then used his ill-gotten gains to fund his exorbitant lifestyle,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “The sentence imposed today sends a message that those who defraud the public will be held accountable.”
“The so-called ‘Timepiece Gentleman” was actually a con-man whose time living lavishly ran out when the high-end watch owners he victimized brought his crimes to the attention of law enforcement,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field. “This successful prosecution is the result of a joint collaboration among local and federal partners working together in order to bring Mr. Farrer to justice.”
“Mr. Farrer exploited his clients’ trust for personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Instead of making good on his business promises, Mr. Farrer swindled his clients out of money and property to fund his own extravagant expenditures, and now he’ll suffer the consequences. IRS-CI is committed to protecting clients and consumers from this sort of dubious behavior, and we are proud to have been a partner in this investigation.”
Farrer defrauded consigners of luxury watches given to him to resell. The amount of the fraud is said to be in the vicinity of $5.7 million.
The DOJ statement continues:
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 would ship a watch to The Timepiece Gentleman and Farrer would take possession of the watch, agreeing to display it at his Beverly Hills store and through online and social media marketing. 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 the watch to the client.
But 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 sent 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 Farrer took the clients’ money and used it for other purposes, including to fund his lavish lifestyle such as 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 other 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.
In total, Farrer fraudulently obtained money and property belonging to more than 40 victims and caused total losses of at least $5,691,005. Farrer also will be subject to a restitution order for payment owed to victims in amounts to be determined later.
The DOJ press spokesman was not able to offer any information about which watches have been recovered, or what plans the government has to locate them or publish the list of unrecovered watches and serial numbers.
If a person were to buy one of the stolen watches, and it’s later determined to have been stolen, the purchaser could lose whatever money was committed to buying it.
Watches are fun to collect and wear, and I hate these fraudsters.