LOS GATOS – The ex-star of the HGTV show “Flip It to Win It” was sentenced Tuesday to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $9.4 million for real estate and financial fraud involving 11 victims, prosecutors said.
The sentence follows the conviction last fall of 58-year-old Los Gatos resident Charles “Todd” Hill on grand larceny charges, based on the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
The television show focused on Hill, also generally known as “Mr. Flip It” and his efforts to purchase dilapidated houses, fix them up, after which sell them for a profit. Prosecutors said Hill as an alternative spent tens of millions on overbudget renovations, laundered profits and pocketed tens of millions in fraudulently obtained money.
“Some see the enormous amounts of money invested in Silicon Valley real estate as a business opportunity,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release. “Unfortunately, others see this as a criminal opportunity – and we will hold these people strictly accountable.”
In one case, Hill diverted construction funds for his personal use, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hill also created a Ponzi scheme during which he used funds provided by an investor to purchase homes to be able to as an alternative live a lavish life. He concealed the theft by preparing false financial statements and taking out loans using fraudulent information.
The Ponzi scheme was considered one of a series of scams Hill ran before the show.
Prosecutors said one other investor viewed a house that he had allocated $250,000 to rework and located it to be a burned-out shell that had not had any work done to it.
According to prosecutors, victims who spoke at Tuesday's sentencing said they still suffered financial and skilled harm in consequence of the fraud.
In addition to the prison sentence and restitution, Hill was sentenced to 10 years probation.
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