At the end of September, Ogg's office charged Chaumette with theft of some USD500,000 held in his clients' account. He purloined the money over a period from March 2015 to August 2016, the charges allege.

Chaumette was disbarred in September 2016 when the Texas State Bar found “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation” in relation to two former clients. He was ordered to make restitution of USD28,000 to one and USD38,000 to the other but seemingly escaped criminal investigation at the time.

Ogg's office has decided to weed out lawyers who commit offences, especially those where clients are victims. “Lawyers who steal from clients give all lawyers and people in position of trust a bad name,” Ogg said. “We are going to hold people accountable. There will be no more double standards.”