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Defendant Pleads Guilty to $5.6M Wire Fraud in Beverly Hills
LOS ANGELES – Anthony Farrer, 36, the former owner of ‘The Timepiece Gentleman’ luxury watch consignment store in Beverly Hills, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud charges, swindling dozens of his customers out of at least $5.6 million.
Farrer, who has been in federal custody since November 2023, used his business 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 Philippe, 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. However, instead of remitting the watch sales proceeds – or the unsold watches themselves – back to the clients, Farrer sold the client watches and kept the proceeds for himself.
Farrer also used client watches 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. However, 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 them over or lull them into a false sense of security regarding the status of the purchase. These watches often belonged to other clients who had themselves sent him that watch for a consignment sale, and were unaware Farrer was using their watches for that purpose.
United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a January 31, 2025, sentencing hearing, at which time Farrer will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count. The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Beverly Hills Police Department investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua O. Mausner of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting this case.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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