Apparently part of his story is that many of the watches on consignment with him were stolen from him, whether that story is true or will be the final story he posts, is unknown. There are conflicts between claiming that he lost the watches and admitting that he has substance abuse, gambling and spending problems. Maybe all are true.
The Timepiece Gentleman Saga Continues. Anthony Farrer Posts YouTube Video Admitting Wrongdoings and $5 Million USD in Debt.
If the watches were stolen then Anthony himself should file a police report and state the owner's name and provide the owner with a copy of the report. If instead he sold them, well then, that story will come out eventually and conflict with any claim of theft. As a private collector who has listed a few for sale here on RolexForums, I can relate to wanting to just sell the watches to a dealer, but most dealers will try to lowball and make a massive profit themselves. When a consignor comes along and promises top dollar, such as Anthony must have done, I can see how some private sellers might have been sold on shipping off their watches.
As far as the investors, if the money they put in was used for other than what they were advised in writing it would be spent for, then they have recourse against the venture, including by pushing for criminal charges.
Over all I think a lot of people when it comes to mistakes made in picking a buyer or seller, or making an investment, are quick to say, "I wouldn't have done that," but you can't really know unless you're facing the same circumstances and sifting through the same facts that that person is confronted with when making his decision. If you go down the list of even Ponzi scam victims, many were very sophisticated business people.