A former HGTV star has been sentenced to 4 years in jail and ordered to pay again virtually $10 million for defrauding 11 individuals, Santa Clara County prosecutors stated.
Charles “Todd” Hill, the 58-year-old star of the present “Flip It to Win It,” was remanded to jail after the sentence, in response to the Santa Clara County District Legal professional’s Workplace.
Hill’s present’s idea was that he purchased dilapidated properties, mounted them up after which offered them for a revenue. As an alternative, he spent thousands and thousands on overpriced remodels, then laundered earnings and pocketed thousands and thousands of cash he obtained out of fraud, prosecutors stated.
Hill was indicted in November 2019 after a countywide investigation confirmed that he had dedicated fraud towards a number of victims. In 2023, he was convicted of a number of fraud schemes and grand theft towards all victims, and he admitted to aggravated white-collar enhancements. He was ordered to pay again restitution amounting to greater than $9.4 million and serve 10 years on probation.
Proof confirmed that Hill laundered cash on a rented condo in San Francisco, in addition to inns, holidays, and luxurious automobiles. He was additionally found to have diverted building cash for his private use.
Prosecutors stated Hill created a Ponzi scheme by taking investor funds to purchase properties and used them to stay lavishly. To cover his crime, he created false steadiness sheets and obtained loans utilizing pretend info.
An investor toured a house for which he supposedly had supplied $250,000 for reworking and located it to be practically nugatory, the District Legal professional’s Workplace stated.
Victims stated they’re nonetheless struggling monetary {and professional} damages from Hill’s schemes.
“Some see the massive amount of cash in Silicon Valley actual property as a enterprise alternative,” District Legal professional Jeff Rosen stated in a press release. “Others, sadly, see it as a legal alternative — and we are going to maintain these individuals strictly accountable.”