The former chief financial officer of a major Pinellas County hotel is among a pair of men facing charges of stealing almost $800,000 from the company.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Sam Baage, 58, the TradeWinds Beach Resorts' former chief financial officer, and Harold James, 46, the resort's former director of information technology, conspired to embezzle funds from the hotel.

Investigators said the duo set up dummy companies and then billed the resort for phony services.

From 2007 to 2012, the pair used the fake companies to repeatedly bill the hotel for services never rendered, according to a sheriff's office release.

Officials said the men stole $782,018.

An investigation initially began in 2011 after a complaint to the St. Pete Beach Police Department.

Baage, who now lives and works in Miami, has been charged with money laundering, conspiracy and 14 counts of grand theft. James, arrested Wednesday near his Tarpon Springs home, is facing the same charges and being held on $735,000 bail.