Former state employees indicted on fraud charges

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced two Pierre women have been indicted on fraud-related charges connected to crimes from when they were both employees of the South Dakota Department of Revenue.

Lynne Hunsley, 63, is accused of using her position with the Division of Motor Vehicles to falsify records between January of 2021 and June of 2023. Hunsley was indicted on seven counts; five felonies and two misdemeanors.

Hunsley’s charges include forgery, altering or forging certificate of title, making false statements in application for certificate of title, grand theft by deception, offering false or forged instrument for filing, falsification of public records by public officer or employee and failure to pay excise tax.

Danielle Degenstein, 51, was indicted on one misdemeanor of Misprision of a Felony for allegedly concealing her knowledge of a felony to authorities about a third DMV employee who forged 13 vehicle titles totaling $400,000 worth of loans. Since the former employee has passed away, no charges were filed.

Both women were indicted on October 1 by a Hughes County Grand Jury and have not made their initial court appearance.

The investigation was announced in August after the DOR said an internal review revealed “an act of suspicious activity by an employee.”

In July, Jackley announced Lonna Carroll, a 68-year-old from Algona, Iowa, is facing two felony counts of Aggravated Grand Theft and is accused of stealing nearly $1.8 million from the Department of Social Services. She pleaded not guilty in Hughes County Circuit Court and her trial date is set for December.

Jackley called on the state legislature to tighten audits and create whistleblower laws that encourage state employees to report any criminal activity.

Stick with Dakota News Now for more on this developing story.