‘Spending people’s money’: Beverly Hills luxury watch dealer arrested by FBI in alleged Ponzi scheme

A Beverly Hills luxury watch dealer accused of stealing people’s pricey timepieces was arrested by the FBI following a report in The Times detailing the allegations of theft against the dealer.

Anthony Farrer, 35, was charged with mail fraud and wire fraud over his alleged consignment scheme. The businessman, who ran a watch company called the Timepiece Gentleman, told potential clients that he would sell their watches and take a commission but often kept all the money, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

“Rather than selling the watches and remitting the funds back to the watch owners, Farrer appears to instead sell the watches and keep the proceeds for himself,” wrote Justin Palmerton, an FBI agent, in an affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

If convicted, Farrer faces up to 20 years in prison and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. His next court date is Dec. 14.

Farrer stole about $3 million from at least 20 victims, according to Palmerton. Numerous victims of Farrer spoke with The Times for the October article, including one man who said he lost his life savings to Farrer.

All the while, Farrer lived a life of luxury, buying high-end cars, spending tens of thousands of dollars on a single meal and renting one of the most expensive apartments in Los Angeles — all of which he flaunted on social media sites such as TikTok. He posted about his exploits and eventually admitted to using people’s watches to pay off other debts.

“He confessed to running a Ponzi scheme and he almost does not seem to understand it,” said Chad Plebo, who helped put victims of in touch with the FBI in the case. “It’s such a bizarre, weird story.”

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Farrer posted on social media about his debts in August, admitting that what he did was wrong.

“Spending people’s money, living above my means. … I’ve been digging myself this hole and it’s a $5-million hole,” he said in the Aug. 2 video. “About $3 million of that debt is to two big clients of mine. One who acted as an investor and I used his money to fund my lifestyle.”

In The Times story detailing the allegations, seven people said they had given Farrer watches worth between $10,000 and well over $100,000, only to have the timepieces disappear. One of the seven alleged victims has a pending lawsuit against Farrer over the issue; an eighth person who also sued did not speak with The Times.

When asked whether he was worried about going to prison for his alleged actions, Farrer said he could not focus on that.

“If I do, I do. If I don’t, I don’t,” he said.

Farrer was raised in Texas and started his company there in 2017 before moving to downtown Los Angeles, where he produced his own reality show about his life called “South Hill,” which he self-published on YouTube.

“People trusted him in this space because he had a social media following,” said John Buckley, a luxury watch dealer who runs a business called Tuscany Rose.