Again when mortgage charges and residential costs had been extra affordable and manageable, owners invested in fixer-upper properties and made them their very own. Now a majority of these projects aren’t as popular. However within the early-to-mid-2010s, HGTV reveals together with Fixer Higher, Love It or Checklist It, and Flip It to Win It had been all the trend as viewers binge-watched dilapidated houses remodel into dream properties.
However because it seems, one former HGTV star was masking his house-flipping present with main actual property fraud. On Tuesday, Charles “Todd” Hill, was sentenced to 4 years and jail and ordered to pay again almost $10 million to his victims following his conviction. Los Gatos, Calif.-based Hill, 58, was the star of the HGTV present Flip It to Win It, which aired in 2013 and featured he and his workforce buying dilapidated houses and fixing them up. Then Hill offered them for a revenue.
“Some see the huge amount of money in Silicon Valley real estate as a business opportunity,” Santa Clara County District Legal professional Jeff Rosen stated in a statement. “Others, unfortunately, see it as a criminal opportunity—and we will hold those people strictly accountable.”
What did Hill do?
Based on the indictment shared with Fortune, the accusations towards Hill occurred between 2012 and 2014, across the time his present (which lasted just one season) started. The indictment reveals 10 counts of grand theft of non-public property exceeding $950,000; three counts of embezzlement; and one rely of diversion of development funds. Hill couldn’t be reached by Fortune to touch upon the indictment, conviction, or sentencing.
Hill was convicted final 12 months of the a number of fraud schemes, together with scams that occurred earlier than his present aired. This included a Ponzi scheme with proof displaying that Hill had spent laundered cash on a rented residence in San Francisco, resorts, holidays, and luxurious vehicles, based on a press release from the Santa Clara County’s District Legal professional’s Workplace. HGTV didn’t reply to requests for remark from Fortune forward of publication.
“To hide the theft, he created false balance sheets and got loans using fraudulent information,” based on the district legal professional’s workplace. In one other case, Hill diverted development cash for private use. However one of many strangest accounts got here from an investor who had poured $250,000 in a property he needed Hill to transform.
As an alternative, through the tour of the house, the investor “found it to be a burnt down shell with no work done on it.”
After the district legal professional’s investigation, Hill was indicted in November 2019 and in September 2023 admitted his guilt and was convicted by plea of grand theft towards all of his victims. He’ll must pay restitution of greater than $9.4 million and serve 10 years of probation.
Victims who spoke at Tuesday’s listening to stated they’re nonetheless reeling from the monetary {and professional} damages from the fraud, based on the district legal professional’s workplace.
