A longtime employee of The Country Club of Birmingham carried out a years-long elaborate scheme to embezzle nearly a half million dollars from the private club, federal investigators claim.

Michael Charles Vines has agreed to plead guilty in the Northern District of Alabama to one count of wire fraud, according to federal court records made public Tuesday. He is set to be arraigned on Sept. 12 before U.S. Magistrate Judge John H. England III.

Efforts to reach his attorney, Derek Drennan, for comment were not immediately successful.

Vines was hired by the country club – located in Mountain Brook – in 2002, initially as an accounts receivable clerk where he managed the cash and check received from members and visitors to the club. Additionally, he was responsible for preparing a portion of the monthly bank account reconciliation dealing with deposits.

In 2006, Vines was given the additional responsibilities of becoming an Information Technology Specialist and, in 2008, he received another promotion to Management Information Systems and Accounts Receivable Clerk.

According to court documents, between 2007 and 2018, Vines engaged in a scheme to steal cash and other proceeds from The Country Club of Birmingham. Federal investigators contend he concealed that scheme by making false and fraudulent representations in person and in emails to club management and an outside auditor.

In early 2018, during the club’s 2017 year-end audit, the outside auditor discovered that bank records received from the National Bank of Commerce for the club reflected a balance that was $455,643.72 less than the account balance reflected on the reconciliation Vines provided to the auditors, records show. Vines, investigators said, was unable to provide an explanation for the discrepancy, and attempted to delay the inquiry so he could further conceal the fraud scheme. He tried to do so, records state, by attempting to make changes to the software system to make it appear the balance reconciled, however the software program maintained a trail of changes made in the system.

In June of 2018, according to the court filings, Vines was confronted by club management about a revised bank account reconciliation and he abruptly left his employment. An inspection of his work station turned up a significant number of un-deposited checks in his desk drawer that were payable to the country club.

The club then hired a separate forensic accountant to examine the financial records. “The forensic analyst specifically noted that Vines had embezzled large amounts of cash from (the club),’’ according to the charging document. The cash received included cash from members and other visitors including monthly dues, merchandise sales and special events hosted at the club.

In one case, records state, a member contacted Vines about his overdue balance and Vines offered to credit the account but instructed the member to make his dues directly payable to Vines. “An analysis of Vine’s personal cash flow further corroborates his scheme,’’ records state. “Between 2011 and 2018, Vines deposited over $430,000 in cash into his personal bank account.” Additionally, between 2014 and 2018, he deposited another $35,000 in cash to a personal account at a separate bank.

Vines faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of not more than $250,000. He also faces forfeiture in the amount of at least $466,746.