Antiques dealer who stole from N.C. store, customers sets up Ocean Springs shop
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- John Grafe of Moss Point started selling antiques when he was in college
- He has pleaded guilty to false pretense, embezzlement at H&S Antiques in Charlotte, N.C.
- He now owns an antique store in Ocean Springs and faces a civil lawsuit.
John Grafe’s antique ventures had a way of attracting positive publicity, first for a shop he ran in New Orleans, and then for another store he managed in North Carolina.
But the latest round of news wasn’t good for Grafe, who is from Moss Point, or the reputation he built during his 40 years as an aficionado of fine antiques.
Grafe pleaded guilty in November to six felony charges stemming from his employment at H&S Antiques LLC in North Carolina: four counts of obtaining property through false pretenses, and one charge each of embezzlement and attempted identity theft.
Now, he’s being sued in Jackson County Circuit Court in a civil case filed by H&S.
Grafe doesn’t want to talk about it. The Sun Herald caught up with him at OS Antiques, a shop that he said he opened about three months ago in a strip shopping center on Bienville Boulevard.
“I have no comment about any of it,” Grafe said. “Zero.”
Antique dealer relocates from New Orleans
Grafe, 59, got his start in the antiques business as a freshman at Ole Miss. He “emptied his bank account” at an antiques auction and wound up with a $200 profit, according to a 2019 article in Charlotte Magazine.
The article chronicled his arrival to manage H&S Antiques for the Boland family, friends who owned a landmark building that long housed a lumber and hardware business.
The article duly noted Grafe’s Southern charm and that he had relocated from New Orleans, where he owned an antique store called Appartique on Magazine Street, widely known for its unique shops and restaurants.
In a 2014 article, a writer for National Geographic describes wandering into Appartique and “admiring the zebra skin rugs and silk cravats and glazed china, every object placed just so, presenting a staged ensemble so elaborate, I reach out for something sturdy to lean on. Blame it on the South, but I might just be swooning.”
Yet another article, this one appearing on the website of Monroe Road Advocates in North Carolina, ran with the headline, “Inside H&S Antiques: high-end antique store comes to Monroe Road.”
By the end of 2020, according to another article, H&S had relocated to Blowing Rock, a picturesque village in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
This article, published by the Watauga Democrat in early 2025, bore a shocking headline: “Man arrested in one of largest financial crimes in Blowing Rock history.”
That man was Grafe. According to court records, Grafe took an Alford plea — a guilty plea that allows a defendant to maintain innocence while admitting that the evidence would likely result in conviction. Four felony charges against him were dismissed: injury to personal property, attempt to obtain property through false pretense, possession of stolen property and larceny by an employee.
Ultimately, the North Carolina judge placed Grafe on supervised probation for five years and ordered him to pay $92,375.50 in restitution. The judge also transferred his supervised probation to Mississippi, court records show.
The charging document in the criminal court file notes that Grafe accepted mirrors, Italian gilt sconces, an armchair, lamps, kitchen items and other property from four individuals, on consignment, but never paid them or returned their property. He also embezzled $58,461.88 from H&S Antiques and posed as someone else to buy antiques at an online auction, the records show.
Ocean Springs law firm files civil case
Now, Grafe faces a civil lawsuit filed by the Rushing & Guice law firm in Ocean Springs on behalf of John S. Boland, the owner of H&S Antiques.
Boland claims Grafe embezzled more than $100,000 in funds and $100,000 in inventory from the business.
“As manager,” the lawsuit says, Grafe “had access to and control over the store’s financial accounts, inventory and day-to-day operations.” The lawsuit says that Grafe badmouthed the business to customers, vendors and others, and further harmed the shop’s reputation when the criminal charges became public.
The lawsuit accuses Grafe of converting business funds to personal use, unjust enrichment, damaging the reputation of H&S Antiques, fraud and other wrongs. Boland is seeking unspecified damages for the company’s losses, a full accounting of transactions, funds and inventory that Grafe managed and an injunction that would stop Grafe from any further “defamatory statements” about H&S Antiques.
He also wants interest on the losses, attorney’s fees and court costs.
Grafe might not have been open long in Ocean Springs, but his small shop is stuffed with antiques and home decor.
