The Bellville specialised commercial court fined a woman cosmetics sales person R5 000 or three months on Tuesday for stealing R1 200 from an employer.
Magistrate Amrith Chabilall told Hanli Lombard, 35, "What stands out in this case is the relationship you had with your previous employer, Annetjie Henning.
"She was kind to you, and treated you as if you were her own daughter.
"To put it bluntly, it is unforgivable for you to steal from her like you did, and the fine must be a perpetual reminder to never ever conduct yourself in this manner again."
Lombard is discussing with her counsel, George Claasen, the possibility of an appeal.
Lombard's misfortunes started with her unwitting involvement with an alleged impostor, David Mulligan, who falsely led her to believe he was an executive with the Medi-Clinic hospital group, at its Stellenbosch head office.
Mulligan had falsely ordered cosmetics worth R1,2-million, supposedly intended as incentive gifts for personnel at four different hospitals, but had failed to provide Lombard with an official order, or the 50 percent deposit required to obtain the cosmetics from Villa Krause in Pretoria.
At the time, Lombard was a marketer working for Henning, who traded as Anne Salon and sold Villa Krause products.
Lombard's dealings with Mulligan led to a fraud charge, on which she was found not guilty.
She was alleged to have falsely informed Henning that she had lucrative deals with Medi-Clinic as well as Vodacom, Shell SA and Sun International Hotels.
Lombard denied the deals were fake, and Chabilall said he had no reason to reject her story about Mulligan.
Chabilall said things went wrong for Lombard when Mulligan failed to provide the official order, the deposit, and told Lombard to deliver the consignment to a warehouse in Stellenbosch instead of to the hospital head office.
Chabillal said the State had failed to investigate Mulligan, and although the court accepted that Lombard had had dealings with a man purporting to be a Medi-Clinic executive, it was not even known if the name was false.
Instead of delivering the goods to the warehouse, Lombard had stored them in the garage of her home - without informing Henning, the court heard.
On the five theft charges, Lombard on five occasions obtained money from Henning to courier the cosmetics from Henning's premises to Stellenbosch, but had them delivered to Lombard's garage instead - a much shorter distance costing far less. - Sapa