A Richmond judge decided Thursday to allow Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to recuse his office from an embezzlement case involving the governor’s former chef, Todd Schneider, citing Cuccinelli’s conflict of interest as the chief concern.

Cuccinelli last month asked the court to recuse him and appoint a new prosecutor to go after Schneider, noting that a key witness, first lady Maureen McDonnell’s former chief of staff, Mary Shea Sutherland, helped Cuccinelli raise money for his gubernatorial campaign.