Former Birmingham Country Club Employee Sentenced to Prison

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A longtime employee of the Country Club of Birmingham has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for wire fraud. Michael Charles Vines, who had been employed by the club since 2002 before pleading guilty to fraud in 2019, was sentenced Friday in federal court by U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon.

Vines worked as the accounts receivable clerk for the club, and in 2008, Vines was promoted to management information systems and accounts receivable clerk. As accounts receivable clerk, Vines managed the cash and checks received from members and outside vendors or visitors, according to court documents.

He was responsible for preparing the receivable portion of the monthly bank account. In 2015, all responsibility for the monthly bank account reconciliation process was transferred to Vines, records show.

U.S. Attorney Jay Town said between 2007 and 2018, Vines engaged in a scheme to steal cash and other proceeds from the club. Town said Vines concealed the scheme by making false and fraudulent entries into the financial management system and making false and fraudulent representations in person and in emails to club management and the outside auditor.

Vines’ scheme resulted in him stealing over $630,000 from The Country Club of Birmingham, court records show. In 2018, an outside auditor discovered that bank records reflected a balance that was $455,643.72 less than the account balance reflected on the reconciliation Vines provided to the auditors, according to the court report.