SAN JOSE, Calif. — A former star on the HGTV reality show “Flip It to Win It” was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $10 million in restitution for defrauding people, prosecutors said.

>> Read more trending news

Charles “Todd” Hill, 58, of Los Gatos, was known as “Mr. Flip It” on the show, which aired in 2014, according to IMDb.com. He was indicted in November 2019 and pleaded guilty on Sept. 27, 2023, to grand theft charges for defrauding 11 people, according to a news release from the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office.

Hill was also ordered to pay $9,402,678.43 in restitution and was placed on 10 years probation, the news release stated.

In the show “Flip It to Win It,” Hill bought rundown and dilapidated homes, fixed them and then sold them for a profit, KTVU reported.

Hill’s alleged fraudulent activities included diverting money earmarked for construction for his personal use, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He was also accused of running a Ponzi scheme with investors’ cash to secure a lavish lifestyle, and of falsifying financial records to obtain loans, according to the television station.

Prosecutors presented evidence that showed Hill laundered money on a rented apartment in San Francisco, as well as hotels, vacations, and luxury cars, KTVU reported.

The District Attorney’s Office said that in another case, an investor toured a home for which he had spent $250,000 for remodeling “and found it to be a burnt down shell with no work done on it.”

“Some see the huge amount of money in Silicon Valley real estate as a business opportunity,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Others, unfortunately, see it as a criminal opportunity -- and we will hold those people strictly accountable.”

©2024 Cox Media Group