A luxury Beverly Hills watch dealer has revealed he is millions of dollars in debt after selling off his customer’s watches and using the cash to fund his high-end lifestyle.
Anthony Farrer, who is known as The Timepiece Gentleman, admitted to operating a Ponzi scheme which has left him in a ‘$5 million hole’.
The 38-year-old is currently being sued after several clients claim they gave him watches worth up to $100,000 each which were sold without them seeing a penny.
Now in a confessional video posted on TikTok Farrer, 38, who once leased an $100,000 penthouse in LA, revealed he has been ‘spending people’s money, living above my means’.
He added: ‘I’ve been digging myself this hole and it’s a five-million dollar hole. About three 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.’
Anthony Farrer, who trades as The Timepiece Gentleman, admitted to ‘dumb decisions’ including living beyond his means which has left him in millions of dollars of debt
Farrer would often share content of him showing off his luxe lifestyle which often saw him driving supercars and sporting watches worth tens of thousands of dollars
At the peak of his success the Beverly Hills watch dealer rented this $100,000 a month penthouse on South Hill in Los Angeles
Farrer built his business selling luxury timepieces such as diamond encrusted Rolexes and Patek Philippes on consignment and scooping a commission.
In just a few years he built up a loyal customer base and social media following, largely thanks to his online videos which showed a behind the scenes look at the horology world, as well as his lavish lifestyle.
One video posted online shows Farrer enjoying dinner at an upmarket Dallas steakhouse. Another shows his flexing a Rolex on his watch in front of a row of supercars.
At one point, Farrer leased one of the most expensive penthouses in Los Angeles, 825 South Hill Street, a $100,000 a month, 11-bedroom apartment.
His Facebook page indicates that he has dealt with watches worn by the likes of Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg.
Farrer’s success increased during Covid-19 when watch prices began to soar, but when they eventually cooled he was allegedly left around $3 million of stock which was deprecating every day, according the the LA Times.
He told the outlet: ‘Almost overnight, prices dropped 20 per cent. I was still living lavishly, still going out and buying cars.’
But he added: ‘No one ever brought me a watch and I immediately sold it and then pocketed that cash for personal use.’
However, several clients who had given Farrer their watches on consignment noted they were not listed on his website and nor had not been notified of a sale.
Farrer, 38, made his name selling on luxury timepieces for commission and documenting his sales on social media
Among them is Liron Levi, 33, who allegedly lost around $350,000 after handing over a Rolex and a Richard Mille to Farrer.
Levi told the LA Times he signed a consignment agreement, but never received any money, and that Farrer admitting he no longer had them in his possession. Levi later saw the Rolex up for sale on another watch dealer’s site in New York.
In one instance a customer recorded Farrer promising to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ after he confronted him about not receiving any money for his watches.
Bob Schober, 50, had previously bought from Farrer and gave him two watches including a Rolex to sell which he claims he never saw again.
He said that Farrer sent him a Rolex Sea-Dweller watch instead to try and cover the debt but he became suspicious that it belonged to someone else.
Schober posted about the watch online and another of Farrer’s customers, Frank Lucente, came forward to claim it.
Lucente alleges he handed over the luxury item to Farrer, but it disappeared without trace from his website.
The dealer is also the subject of at least two lawsuits. Artin Massihi has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that Farrer stole his $40,000 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 44mm.
Farrer documented his fast-pace lifestyle which featured expensive steak dinners and flashy cars in a series on YouTube called South Hill which appears to have been deleted
Massihi claims just weeks after he handed over the item Farrer admitted over the phone he had ‘sold the watch and kept the entire funds for his own [personal] purposes’ according to the lawsuit.
Farrer is currently not facing any criminal charges, but is under investigation. He has admitted to using the proceeds of one sale to pay back another customer.
He already has a conviction for a DUI which saw him imprisoned for a year. At one point he advertised his services as a male masseur on a gay website.
His meteoric rise saw him found his business in Dallas, Texas before moving the operation to Los Angeles. However its understood he has since shuttered his Beverly Hills showroom amid the controversy.
Addressing the controversy swirling around his business he said in the TikTok: ‘I got a little taste of success and never wanted to forget that feeling.
‘When I did make dumb decisions I would write them off or I wouldn’t address them because if I addressed something that didn’t work then that was a failure and my ego was too big […] I got accustomed to this lifestyle’.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com
