Dadeville man charged with embezzling in Florida [Video]

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WSFA) – A Dadeville man has been charged with embezzlement for misappropriating money after he was hired to build a home in Walton County, FL.

According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, they were contacted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in August 2023 regarding a complaint from a victim regarding Michael Scott Barnes, 59, of Dadeville, Alabama.

The Walton County Sheriff’s office stated that in March of 2022, the victim hired Barnes as a general contractor to build a house for their family in Santa Rosa Beach. The victim paid Barnes close to a million dollars, but after a few months of construction, hundreds of thousands of dollars went missing, and construction nearly stopped. The victim was forced to hire …