Fined R5 000 for theft of R1 200

Hanli Lombard (35) on five occasions obtained money from previous employer, Annetjie Henning, to courier cosmetics from Henning\'s premises to Stellenbosch, but had them delivered to Lombard\'s garage instead – a much shorter distance costing far less. Lombard was cleared of fraud charges, however, when Magistrate Amrith Chabilall said he had no reason to doubt her story about being conned by 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, says a report on the IoL site. Mulligan had falsely ordered cosmetics worth R1.2m. 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. Full report on IoL site