Santa Ana, California - A former Los Angeles County resident now living in Mexico faces federal criminal charges alleging he sold millions of dollars of memorabilia that contained the forged signatures of sports stars, musicians, actors, and other celebrities.
Anthony J. Tremayne, 51, formerly of West Covina but who now lives in Tijuana, Mexico, is charged in a 19-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed today.
Tremayne, who was arrested on a warrant at the San Ysidro border crossing, and made a court appearance last Thursday in United States District Court in San Diego.
According to the indictment, beginning in 2010 and continuing until this month, Tremayne operated businesses – including Tremayne Enterprises and Timeless Treasures – that sold memorabilia that contained the forged signatures of celebrities and sports stars. Tremayne allegedly hired and paid other people to forge the signatures. The phony goods were sold on the Internet and were shipped via U.S. mail, FedEx, or other private or commercial interstate carriers, according to the indictment. Tremayne allegedly held out that the forged signatures were real.
For example, in November 2013, Tremayne allegedly met with a buyer in Ladera Ranch. During that meeting, he allegedly sold for $100,000 approximately 100 memorabilia items with forged signatures, including “Star Wars” Darth Vader and Imperial storm trooper helmets that had forged signatures from actors in the movie series, as well as posters with forged signatures of actors from the “Hunger Games” and “Twilight” movie series.
In November 2019, Tremayne allegedly shipped to an FBI undercover buyer a “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” photograph that had forged signatures of three of the television show’s personalities.
As a result of the scheme, Tremayne and his memorabilia business sold more than $1 million in memorabilia items, according to the indictment. Tremayne has been charged with 13 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
The indictment also alleges that Tremayne had moved to Mexico to avoid paying approximately $1.4 million in taxes that he owed to the U.S. government.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, Tremayne would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud count and two years in federal prison for each aggravated identity theft count.
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Charles E. Pell of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
