A Los Angeles man who previously operated a business in Beverly Hills known as Gentlemen Timepieces appeared in court on Nov. 8 after he was arrested the previous day by FBI agents on charges of defrauding customers.

Anthony Farrer, 35, who lived in downtown Los Angeles, was charged in a federal criminal complaint filed on Nov. 6 with wire fraud, a felony that carries 20 years in federal prison.

Farrer, who also was also known as “the Timepiece Gentleman,” was arrested without incident at a storage facility in Venice and was held in federal custody. According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Farrer founded the company in Texas in 2017 and opened a location in Beverly Hills in 2022. Farrer used the business, located at 150 S. Rodeo Dive Ste. 120, to connect purchasers and sellers of high-end watches, authorities said. He typically collected a watch from an individual and had them sign a consignment agreement that stipulated he would collect a 5% commission from the sale.

The complaint alleges that Farrer defrauded victims from late 2022 through summer 2023. After allegedly promising customers he would sell their luxury watches on consignment and remit the funds back to the customers minus the commission, Farrer allegedly kept the proceeds for himself. Farrer lived in a luxury rental property and drove a Lamborghini car and Ducati motorcycles, prosecutors allege. He also traveled frequently and gambled in Las Vegas, according to the complaint.

Multiple victims contacted law enforcement to report that they wired funds to Farrer for the purchase of a watch, or mailed him a watch to consign for sale, but never received a watch or their money back. Law enforcement estimates that victim losses total approximately $3 million.