‘Idiot’: Former partner of dodgy watch seller speaks out
Watch seller Ian Tilman vanished without a trace leaving dozens out of pocket. Now, his former business partner has spoken out – and he hasn’t held back.
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EXCLUSIVE
The former business partner of a watch dealer who sold Rolexes for hundreds of thousands of dollars then failed to deliver them has broken his silence on the issue, labelling his former colleague an “idiot”.
Aaron Polura, 76, was a former director of Mazal Group, which now operates under the name Watches R Us.
Ian Tilman took over the company in 2018 and it was recently put into liquidation, with his swanky showroom on Castlereagh St in Sydney’s CBD suddenly shut down.
Mr Tilman is now nowhere to be found with customers lodging police reports as they try and recoup their money after putting down deposits for watches they never received.
Patrick Bradford, an avid watch collector from Perth, said he transferred Mr Tilman more than $158,000 over three months and “never received anything”.
Another victim bought three watches from Mr Tilman for $100,000 and has also received nothing.
Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Polura said he brought Mr Tilman into the business around 2016.
“I wanted to try and bring in a young guy, but we tried it and it didn’t work out,” he said.
Mr Tilman took over the company after Mr Polura said he resigned from the company to start afresh.
“I’m glad it didn’t work out because now with what I’m doing, I have the right people,” he said.
Mr Polura is now the director of a successful luxury watch store Zaeger which operates across Sydney and Melbourne.
“It is a shame, I haven’t spoken to Ian in a long time I have no idea what he’s doing.
“I’m not ashamed because I have done nothing wrong, but it is not good for the industry. People trust us in the industry and all it takes is just one idiot.
“It’s very, very disappointing. But for me, I believe it was a good decision at the time [to walk away].”
ASIC documents obtained by news.com.au show Mr Polura, whose legal name is Arthur, handed Mazal Group over to Mr Tilman in April 2018. The company ceased in February 2024 and the company was put into the hands of liquidators Hall Chadwick.
The victims
Dozens of people who have been left out of pocket by Mr Tilman have joined a WhatsApp group in a bid to find out where the watch dealer has fled.
The group has planned to file as many statements to police as possible in hopes the issue is investigated as a criminal matter, with many of the victims told the matter can only be dealt with as a civil issue.
In an email seen by news.com.au, a constable from NSW Police told one of the victims “fell outside the jurisdiction of police”.
“While the situation is certainly disheartening due to the loss of the large sums of money, as a business liquidation is technically lawful, the actions taken do not meet the legal threshold for criminal fraud under NSW law.”
Victoria Police also told one of the victims that their purpose was “criminal prosecution and not to recovery property”.
One of Mr Tilman’s customers went down the civil route and managed to get her money back after a lengthy and “traumatic” battle in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year.
Tasmanian woman Marian Ong bought a Rolex from WatchesRUs in 2022 through a friend who was an expert in high-end watches.
After using the Rolex to propose to her fiance, the watch began to make a “clinking sound” with the pair taking the watch to a Rolex service centre.
The centre informed Ms Ong the Rolex was fake.
“I just melted,” she told news.com.au.
“I just thought this is Australia, you can’t sell fake goods.”
Ms Ong contacted Mr Tilman who accused her of swapping out the Rolex for a fake watch.
She said she went to the WatchesRUs office in the CBD to meet with Mr Tilman and an offsider of his.
“I am a small, petite Asian person, and Mr Tilman was sitting across the desk accusing me of tampering with the watch,” she said.
She took the pair to NCAT, who ordered Mr Tilman to pay Ms Ong back the $23,500 she paid for the watch.
Court documents stated that NCAT ruled in favour of Ms Ong as Mr Tilman gave “inconsistent evidence under oath” and would not say where he got the watch from for “privacy” reasons.
“This is misguided, and not consistent with the level of due diligence which Mr Tilman expected from the applicants,” the order stated.
However, NCAT said that a “200 per cent guarantee” which was listed on the company’s website did not legally stand and it was ruled as an “advertising tactic”.
“I thought that was pretty unfair … to me when you make a guarantee that actually means something,” she said.
Website gone
Like Mr Tilman’s office, the store’s online website has also been closed. However, both the Instagram pages and Facebook pages for the company are still active.
Prior to the website being shut down, WatchesRUs stated they did not accept payment of more than $2000 which had to be made in their CBD showroom.
“We take these steps to protect Customers (sic) Security and Anti Fraud,” the website stated.
News.com.au visited Mr Tilman’s parent’s home in Randwick. His father told news.com.au: “I haven’t spoken to my son in two years” before shutting the door.
Do you know more? Email sarah.keoghan@news.com.au
Originally published as ‘Idiot’: Former partner of dodgy watch seller speaks out
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