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GREENSBORO - Police in Mississippi arrested a "key player" this week in a fraud case that has already led to charges against a local lawyer and the ex-wife of a city police lieutenant.

Terrell L. Raynor, 37, was taken into custody when police stopped his car late Tuesday on charges of reckless driving in Brandon, Miss. He and Derrick L. McDowell, 37, are jailed without bond until their extradition hearing.

Local authorities said it may be weeks before both men return to the Triad. They face charges of obtaining property by false pretense and criminal conspiracy.

The arrests bring to five the number of people linked to a check-kiting plot discovered last spring by SunTrust bank security. Court records reveal that at least two people deposited checks in a SunTrust account, immediately retrieved the funds then stopped payment on the original checks.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminstration , the Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Service are now part of the probe .

"We have more players to deal with in the court system and have a more complete picture of what's going on," Greensboro police Capt. Gary Hastings said of the Wednesday arrests. "This may lead us to more information."

Raynor, a convicted felon, had been on the lam since late last week when Greensboro police moved to arrest him and T.O. "Pella" Stokes III, 50, an attorney and business partner with Raynor.

Stokes was also Raynor's lawyer in criminal cases. Raynor pleaded guilty in 1995 to defrauding at least nine area businesses and a couple who hired him to perform construction work on their house.

Stokes was charged with obtaining property by false pretense for his alleged role in the scheme.

SunTrust claims Stokes was tied to the loss of $135,000 but, according to court documents, the lawyer repaid some of the money.

Also charged by police was Beverly Hinson, 46, the ex-wife of city police Lt. James Hinson. Beverly Hinson, a former bank teller, is accused of certifying a $145,000 check last month from Wachovia despite knowing the account from which it was drawn lacked the funds.

No evidence has surfaced to show James Hinson was part of, or even knew about, the alleged activities of his former spouse.

The two divorced in November 2005 and have lived apart since 2004.

James Hinson is the officer who in June 2005 found a tracking device on his police cruiser. His attorney at the time accused a covert squad of unfairly targeting black officers for internal investigations.

His allegations led to a series of complaints about the way then-Chief David Wray ran the agency. Wray resigned under pressure seven months later.

Contact Eric J.S. Townsend at 373-7008 or etownsend@news-record.com