'It's been stressful': Lawyer stole millions from clients to feed gambling habit

Damian Leukes rues the day his father hired an ex-colleague to handle his road accident fund (RAF) claim.

Leukes, 27, had to visit Cape Town lawyer Brian Baumann’s offices about 50 times to beg for his money following an RAF payout. He is among 20,000 claimants who have reported personal injury lawyers to the Legal Practice Council (LPC) since November 2018.

Leukes sustained neck injuries in December 2016 when the driver of a vehicle he was travelling in lost control and crashed. His father, David, approached Baumann, who used to be his colleague at the Cape Town traffic department, and asked him to take up the matter with the RAF.

In July 2019 Baumann paid Leukes just R500,000 of the R2.5m the RAF had awarded him and then stopped taking their calls.

I really want our friendship to last forever, that is why I today, again, humbly plead and beg that you please arrange for payment to take place over the weekend

—  David Leukes also wrote emotive letters to Baumann

At his wits’ end, Leukes — in common with several other victims — reported the lawyer to the LPC, which discovered the RAF had paid more than R24m meant for claimants into Baumann’s trust account. He misappropriated more than R14m. The 53-year-old is now serving a 12-year jail sentence after entering a plea agreement with prosecutors in November last year. He pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud and blamed his “gambling addiction”, saying he had lost most of the money at casinos.

The LPC applied to have his name struck off the roll of attorneys, and court documents reveal how Baumann’s actions devastated the Leukes family. “After July 10 2019 we must have visited his offices over 50 times, he was never there. It was deserted, even the car guard said that there were other people looking for this guy. We went to his house [and it] was deserted,” Leukes’s complaint to the LPC reads.

David Leukes also wrote emotive letters to Baumann. “I never thought that one day I would have to plead with you for money that actually belongs to my son. Consider for a moment how you would have felt if this had happened to your son. An accident which could have caused his death!!!” he said.

• R14.76m - The amount Baumann misappropriated

• 12 years - Jail sentence being served by Baumann after he entered a plea agreement

• 20,000 - The number of complaints about personal injury lawyers since November 2018

—  In Numbers

“I really want our friendship to last forever, that is why I today, again, humbly plead and beg that you please arrange for payment to take place over the weekend. Brian, please my friend, do the right thing (It is what your maker would expect of you), do not destroy other people’s dreams.” 

In another letter, David said: “You are a father of sons, so am I, the difference is that my son was involved in an accident and will have to live with the pain for the rest of his life.

“You know I went to you because I trusted you … You were and still are my friend, but friends don’t treat each other like this … but now you [are saying] nothing and I’m stressing myself to death.”

The high court struck Baumann’s name off the roll this week. “[He] has brought the legal profession into disrepute and there is no doubt that he is no longer a fit and proper person to practise in a profession in which honesty and integrity are the bedrock,” said judge Patrick Gamble.

Leukes said Baumann “put us through a lot as a family”. “It’s been stressful. I stayed at home for a long time after the accident, I couldn’t work. I am in a lot of debt because of that, debts which the medical aid didn’t cover which he was supposed to have paid. Now I am still liable for that.” Sthembiso Mnisi, spokesperson for the LPC, said the council was inundated with complaints regarding RAF claims. “This is a concern for the council. We welcome the judgment … it sends a clear message that misconduct by legal practitioners will not be tolerated,” said Mnisi.

“We have already received several queries regarding Mr Baumann, and these have all been referred to the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund.” The fund reimburses those who show a lawyer has cheated them financially.