An Alabama man is accused of embezzling more than $200,000 in Florida where he was hired to building a home in Walton County.

Michael Scott Barnes, 59, of Dadeville, is now charged criminally.

The investigation began in August 2023 when the Walton County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation regarding a complaint about Barnes.

In March 2022, the victim hired Barnes as a general contractor to build a home for their family in Santa Rosa Beach.

The victim paid Barnes close to $1 million but, after a few months of construction, hundreds of thousands of dollars went missing and construction nearly stopped.

The victim was forced to hire a new contractor and reported Barnes to FDBPR.

Investigators discovered Barnes misappropriated construction payments of $262,130 paid by the victim. The money was never returned, and Barnes could not properly account for where the money went.

A warrant against Barnes was issued on Feb. 1.

On Feb. 9th, after repeated attempts to allow Barnes to turn himself in, investigators reached out to Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office requested they take him into custody. That same day, Barnes was arrested.

Barnes was extradited to Florida on Thursday and remains held in the Walton County Jail on $15,000 bond.