HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — An Orange County Superior Court judge signed an injunction this week cutting off a missing Chapel Hill attorney's access to business funds.

The move was brought by the North Carolina State Bar and will remain in place while an embezzlement charge against John McCormick is under investigation.

McCormick vanished on July 10, around the same time that more than $1 million disappeared from his clients' bank accounts. His car was found abandoned at the Orange County entrance to Duke Forest.

Investigators suspect McCormick stole more than $800,000 from homebuilder DR Horton. A Chapel Hill couple also claims McCormick owes them about $300,000. The single embezzlement count is the first criminal charge filed in the case.

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall, however, has said more charges are possible.