Money Gone Missing

The Knoxville News Sentinel has this report on a recent disbarment in Tennesee

A veteran East Tennessee lawyer has been disbarred after more than $183,000 in clients’ money went missing.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week stripped Carl Robert Ogle Jr. of his license to practice law. The move came after a state Board of Professional Responsibility probe by board investigator Eileen Burkhalter Smith and a disciplinary petition by board attorney Alan Johnson.

Ogle has practiced law in Sevier and Jefferson Counties for nearly four decades.

The News Sentinel requested and received Tuesday the board’s disciplinary file on Ogle. It shows Ogle blamed the missing money on his wife’s gambling addiction but, at the same time, sought to protect her from prosecution.

His woes began in August 2013 when he told a judge in Jefferson County all monies owed the estate had been paid to the beneficiaries, Susie White and Garrett Tweed. Part of the estate included a lawsuit settlement check for more than $161,000.

In October 2013, Ogle told White the money from that check was gone from his client trust account and that his wife, who served as his bookkeeper, had “gambled the money away,” records show.

Two months later, Ogle wrote to the board, which polices attorneys, after White’s new attorney filed a complaint. Ogle said he learned in January 2013 monies were missing from three bank accounts, including the client trust account. While he stopped short of saying his wife stole the money, Ogle wrote his wife “began to search for treatment options for gambling addiction.”

He denied telling White his wife took the money, and he never mentioned in that letter that two other clients’ money also was missing.

Investigator Smith then asked Ogle to supply her with his banking records and “let me know whether you filed a police report about your knowledge of the theft of client funds.”

A month later, he disclosed in a second letter two more thieveries he had not reported to the board.

Ogle admitted in that second letter he knew more than $3,600 awarded to client Thomas Martin also had gone missing. He paid that back in April 2013, the BPR file showed. He conceded he tried to fend off client Daniel Mays — owed more than $8,500 — by promising to repay him once another client who owed Ogle money sold “a piece of property.” That never happened.

The order is linked here. (Mike Frisch)