SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Auctioneer and convicted con man Robert M. Huillier often boasted he was “untouchable.” Like most good confidence men, he considered his intellect beyond the reproach of law enforcement. He never deigned to think the law would ever unravel his numerous webs of deceit. However, those boasts crumbled on the afternoon of Jan. 6 when Huillier, purportedly making a “estate call” within a Scottsdale suburb, looked up and saw two policemen – in full-armor jackets – leveling automatic weapons at him. It was the typical “deer in the spotlight” look on Huillier’s face, according to Robbi Kelldorf who helped the Scottsdale Police Department set up the sting operation. “He was totally surprised,” Kelldorf said. Huillier had been in hiding for months, according to police. On Dec. 18, he was indicted by a Maricopa grand jury on three counts of running fraud schemes and five counts of felony theft. For nearly a year the Scottsdale Police Department Fraud Unit had Huillier under investigation for defrauding nearly 70 victims out of cash and property. They allege he has stolen at least $2.5 million from his victims. On Jan. 14, Huillier pleaded not guilty to the charges. Considered a “flight risk” by authorities, his bond has been set at $100,000. After allegedly scamming clients using several different methods, Huillier now claims he has no assets, according to Scottsdale Police Detective Frank Nagy. The 48-year-old Huillier is a career criminal. During the past 20 years, working as an auctioneer, antiques appraiser and used car dealer, Huillier has cut a wide swath through the West – from his home state of California, through Oregon and down to Arizona. Within his wake, he has allegedly stolen retirement funds from widows, bilked investors of millions of dollars and taken thousands of dollars in property and cash from well-meaning clients (see AntiqueWeek, Jan. 25, 2008). Huillier, according to court documents, was convicted of two felonies in California in the 1980s relating to odometer roll-backs and to obtaining vehicles valued at nearly $800,000 from an auto auction company and not paying for them. He served two years in prison. Although Huillier was very adept at putting up a menacing demeanor when necessary, he was also adroit at gaining the confidence and trust of his clients. “He is really good,” says Noel Winters, who worked for Huillier’s auction company Gaige & Co. as a computer specialist. “He could sell refrigerators to Eskimos … he just had a way of knowing what a person needed or wanted, and then fitting his talk to fulfill those needs. He was a chameleon; he could change at the drop of a hat. He just knew how to gain people’s confidence and then just squeeze them. He was also a man confident in his skills, according to Winters. “He told me, at least five or six times: ’I’m untouchable,’” Winters said. “When the police began coming around, he said ’don’t talk to them, don’t tell them anything. They can’t get anything on me. I’m untouchable.” It was Winters and Kelldorf who “set up” Huillier’s arrest by police, who had been looking for the auctioneer since his December indictment. The pair gave Huillier a “tip” on a lucrative estate that could be his for the asking. Upon arriving at the location, police surrounded the apartment and took Huillier into custody. Winters once dated a woman who maintains Huillier took her for $200,000. Kelldorf, who worked as a regional representative for Doyle Auction Gallery in New York, is a defendant in a complicated civil suit in which she became, according to police, innocently entangled in a professional relationship with Huillier. As a result, she says, her nine-year-old job with Doyle was jeopardized. She may also owe more than $130,000 in civil damages for referring clients to Huillier. The plaintiffs in the case, she said, are going after her because Huillier claims to have no money or assets. From his arrival in Scottsdale in the late 1990s and early 2000, Huillier was intent on building a high-end specialty auction gallery and making profitable connections. He set up Gaige & Co. (named after a grandson, named Gaige), specializing in antique American and European furniture, fine art, carpets, silver, jewelry and Native American items. The company had locations in both Scottsdale and nearby Phoenix. At the time, business was booming. Huillier and his, wife Robin, and other members of the family were living good. They had a large elaborate house on the edge of a golf course in exclusive Cave Creek; trips to England, France, Italy and Hawaii were frequent; and Robert was always dressed in designer clothes. At the surface, he was a good auctioneer. “He (Hullier) certainly got phenomenal prices,” one victim said. “He’s good at what he does – he doesn’t have to cheat anyone, I just don’t understand it.” But, according to police documents, Huillier worked several different “angles.” In 2002, Mark Drinkwater, a successful restaurateur and nightclub owner, began investing in Gaige and Co. At that time, Drinkwater received a very favorable return on his initial $30,000 foray into the estate business. Drinkwater saw in Huillier a good businessman who could produce a quick, profitable investment turn around. Huillier saw in Drinkwater a rich well of cash. It was a well that he would often return to; in 2007 Huillier spoke to Drinkwater about a trove of deaccessioned art pieces from the Tucson Museum of Arts. By 2007, Huillier had convinced Drinkwater that he had purchased $295,800 pieces of art as their “investment.” But, funny thing, the museum told police it had only consigned close to $1,500 in art to Huillier in 2006; and about $500 in 2007. There were other “investments” made by Huillier on Drinkwater’s behalf. According to a case summary from the Scottsdale Police Department, Drinkwater accuses of Huillier of receiving more than $1.3 million to buy estates or museum items, and then never auctioning them. Another Scottsdale woman, who also once performed voluntary work with Gaige & Co., also invested her life savings with Huillier in 2005. “I gave my check in the amount of $200,000 to Robert to invest only $75,000 for monthly points to be given on the first of every month,” says Mary Beth Williams. “The remaining money was supposed to be in a trust account and I was to get it right back. Robert just kept delaying me, telling me any story. I’m out more than $200,000 and I still haven’t been told what the money was used for, where it went, I don’t what happened to my money.” Phil Fergione, who owned Absolute Estate and Auction Liquidators in Tucson for the past 25 years, also doesn’t know what happened to his money. Fergione turned over his warehouse, comprised of 22,000 square feet of merchandise – paintings, rugs, furniture and collectibles. “I gave him what I thought was $200,000 in inventory and he gave me a statement that he sold everything for $115,000. And what have I seen? He has not paid me a nickel.” Between October 2007 and August 2008, investigators at the Scottsdale Police Department were inundated with complaints. More than 60 additional victims alleged they were scammed by Huillier. Huillier operated on many different levels. One of his alleged scams was very much similar to a Ponzi scheme. He structured his consignments agreements to pay consignors their money 30 business days after an auction. By using various delaying tactics he was usually able to spread those payments out to six weeks or longer. He then had an auction every fifth week, paying the consignors of the previous auction from the proceeds of the more current ones. Unraveling Huillier’s webs of deceit have been challenging for police. Contact: www.caboodle.biz Eric C. Rodenberg |