The gavel has come down on former HGTV darling-turn-rogue Charles “Todd” Hill, nabbing four years behind bars and a staggering $10 million repayment order for conning 11 victims with real estate scams. Hill, handed his sentence today, is best remembered for spearheading “Flip It to Win It,” where he allegedly transformed busted homes into gold mines. But rather than playing by the script, Hill funneled millions into over-the-top remodels and a lifestyle of pure excess, courtesy of money that wasn't his, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office reported.
Hill's televised facade came crashing to reveal a man who apparently couldn't resist to gamble with other people's dreams and dollars. Before his celebrity days on "Flip It to Win It," he was busy weaving a web of deceit through Ponzi schemes and other fraudulent escapades. The lavish fruits of his ill-gotten gains? Rented digs in San Francisco, flash cars and vacations, described the DA's announcement. "Some see the huge amount of money in Silicon Valley real estate as a business opportunity," District Attorney Jeff Rosen decried. "Others, unfortunately, see it as a criminal opportunity – and we will hold those people strictly accountable."
November 2019 marked the indictment of Hill after the DA's investigations laid bare his schemes. By September 27, 2023, Hill had pled guilty to grand theft across the board, owning up to the aggravated white-collar enhancements, per the DA's news release. The sentence? Restitution totaling north of $9 million and a decade of probation. One allegation has it Hill pocketed construction funds, diverting them for personal enjoyment.
In a particularly egregious example of his swindles, an investor discovered mere ruins of a home they'd financed with $250,000, a far cry from the promised remodel. And Hill's method of keeping the con concealed? Forging balance sheets and obtaining loans with fabricated info. Back in his heyday, Hill maintained a biz front at SVHome in Los Gatos, although signs of trouble surfaced with a 2014 civil suit alleging financial sleight of hand – "not a word of it" true, Hill had defended at the time, according to court papers obtained by Mercury News.
Hill's victims vented their ongoing pain at his sentencing, detailing the financial and professional havoc he wrought. Deputy District Attorney Christine Garcia-Sen, corroborating the sentiments, emphasized wariness in real estate dealings following Hill's arraignment. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," she advised, advocating for thorough background checks before plunging into any investment according to the same Mercury News report. The curtain may have closed on Hill's grand performance, but the reverberations of his acts continue to disturb the lives of those he deceived.
