Phoenix police arrested McCormick about 3 a.m. today, N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper announced in a news release.

McCormick, 59, was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Cooper said he would be held without bond until he is returned to North Carolina.

Detective Bob Ragsdale, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said McCormick was arrested near the intersection of 20th Street and East Thomas Road in the central district of Phoenix. Satellite imagery of the intersection shows a busy thoroughfare with open parklike space near a children's hospital.

McCormick's address on police paperwork is listed as 'transient,' and Ragsdale said no other information was available. Ragsdale said officers often do not write full reports when they arrest people on other agencies' warrants.

McCormick is being held without bond in the Maricopa County jail system.

McCormick will likely be brought back to North Carolina by the U.S. Marshal's Service in the coming weeks, said Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall.

McCormick disappeared in July 2006 while he was under investigation. He is charged with taking $802,000 from his major client, national homebuilder D.R. Horton.

His brothers and sisters claim McCormick never paid more than $800,000 in taxes from his parents' estate, leaving them with the bills.

McCormick was disbarred in his absence. Rumors about his whereabouts had abounded; at one point earlier this year, authorities suspected he was in Spain.

Woodall said a Phoenix police officer had detained McCormick and discovered the outstanding warrants from North Carolina.

Woodall said he was glad to hear of the arrest when an agent phoned him this morning.

"I was happy," he said. "The SBI's been working on this since last year. They've kept me updated, and I think they've done a good job."