The former star of a cable reality television show about flipping houses was arrested last month for allegedly stealing more than $200,000 each from four people, it was reported on Wednesday.
Todd Hill, 51, who was known as ‘Mr. Flip It’ on HGTV’s Flip It to Win It, was arrested by police in Los Gatos, California on December 16.
He was jailed on $500,000 bond, according to The Mercury News.
Shortly after his arrest, he was released from police custody and arraigned last month, prosecutors in Santa Clara County said.
Todd Hill, 51, who was known as ‘Mr. Flip It’ on HGTV’s Flip It to Win It, was arrested by police in Los Gatos, California on December 16
‘There are allegations that he took more than $200,000 from each of four victims,’ Deputy District Attorney Christine Garcia-Sen said.
‘So, there is an aggravated white collar crime enhancement that basically means there is a pattern of crime involving the taking of more than $500,000.’
Hill is alleged to have committed the crimes between March 2013 and July 2014.
‘He had a business where he was buying homes and hiring contractors to fix them up for profit,’ Garcia-Sen said of the charges.
‘He started losing money and began manipulating the books to make it appear profitable. Then, he created a new company and transferred assets from the other company to attract new investors.’
Hill has been accused in the past of defrauding investors.
Flip It to Win It was a reality show on HGTV that featured ‘five teams of expert flippers’ who ‘bid against each other for abandoned houses’ that are then renovated and put on the market. Hill is seen left alongside his partner, Mike Kaufman
In December 2014, he was sued by a Bay Area developer who alleged that Hill ‘took money for work that was never performed’ by ‘falsifying financial reports and an online tracking system.’
Hill denied the allegations.
‘It’s not true, not a word of it,’ he told The Mercury News at the time. ‘It’s a private matter.’
That case has yet to be resolved in the courts.
Hill is due to appear in court on January 22 in San Jose over the most recent allegations.
Garcia-Sen said that Hill’s track record should make would-be real estate investors think twice about giving him their money.
‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,’ she said.
‘Whenever a person enters into a business relationship, they need to do a background check.’
Flip It to Win It was a reality show on HGTV that featured ‘five teams of expert flippers’ who ‘bid against each other for abandoned houses’ that are then renovated and put on the market.
It aired for two season from 2013 to 2014.