Disbarred Sturgis lawyer accused of stealing $168,000 inheritance from client

The Federal Courthouse in Rapid City.

by Adam Fondren

A disbarred Sturgis-based lawyer is accused of stealing $167,699 from a client who inherited the money from a relative and trying to cover the fraud by lying to a tax preparer, judge and bank employee.

Rena Hymans, a 48-year-old from Vale, was indicted last week in federal court on 30 counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of money laundering and one count of bank fraud. She's accused of embezzling the money and using it to pay for business and personal expenses between May 2017 and July 2019.

The indictment says Hymans went to great lengths to hide the fraud by providing false documents to a tax preparer, making false statements in state court and lying to a bank employee.

Hymans pleaded not guilty to the 41 counts Monday at the federal court in Rapid City, records show. She was released pre-trial.

If convicted, Hymans faces up to 30 years in prison on the bank fraud charge and up to 20 years on each wire fraud and money laundering count

The criminal charges are the result of an investigation by the FBI, IRS and South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Dakota.

The charges come after Hymans resigned from the South Dakota State Bar on Jan. 22, which means she’s no longer eligible to practice law, according to documents provided by the state court administrator. She previously worked out of Sturgis.

Hymans resigned after learning the state bar was investigating a complaint that accused her of breaking a law that says it’s illegal for attorneys to use clients' money in unauthorized ways. She was also accused of violating professional rules about misconduct and safekeeping property.

“I do not desire to contest or defend against the above-described complaint, allegations or instances of alleged misconduct,” Hymans wrote in her resignation letter.

The South Dakota Supreme Court disbarred Hymans on Feb. 24 without holding a hearing or issuing any opinion since she resigned. The court later ordered Hymans to pay $5,040 — the amount spent investigating her complaint — to the state bar.

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Alleged scheme

What follows is alleged in Hymans’ 14-page indictment:

Doris Lauing hired Hymans in November 2016 to represent her relative Leo Drillig in an estate matter related to the death of Lauing’s uncle, Leo Miller. Miller left an inheritance for Drillig — who lives in Germany — so Lauing hired Hymans to serve as Drillig’s personal representative in the U.S.

Hymans deposited $167,699 — the amount of Drillig’s inheritance — in her client trust account in May 2017 and was supposed to immediately transfer the money to Drillig.

But Hymans instead decided to “defraud Drillig and enrich herself,” causing “Drillig’s inheritance to be entirely depleted,” the indictment says.

Hymans transferred the money in her client trust account to her business account and then her personal bank accounts. She concealed the fraud by telling her legal assistant that the transfers were for legal services and providing false documentation to her income tax preparer.

Lauing made multiple attempts to contact and ask Hymans to transfer the inheritance to Drillig, but Hymans never responded. She hired an attorney in September 2018 to help retrieve the funds, but Hymans provided the attorney with false explanations for the delay of the transfer.

The attorney filed a petition at the Meade County Court in January 2020 to force Hymans to turn over the money. Hymans falsely told a judge on Jan. 3 that she was reluctant to give Drillig his money because she was concerned he was trying to hide it in the U.S. The court ordered Hymans to pay Drillig the money minus $2,709, which Hymans said she earned as attorney’s fees.

Hymans made her false statements to the attorney and judge after she had spent all of Drillig’s money.

Hymans deposited a check Jan. 3 to Drillig’s estate from her client trust account knowing that the account had insufficient funds. She called her bank and asked an employee to honor the check, falsely saying she would soon be making a large deposit.

Lauing then attempted to deposit the check but the bank told her Hymans’ client trust account had insufficient funds. She contacted Hymans who sent emails that falsely stated the bank told her she did have enough funds.

Hymans has still not put money into her client trust account so she can pay Drillig.

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Disbarred Sturgis lawyer accused of stealing $168,000 inheritance from client