In addition to having to clean and maintain buildings, Renay Benjamin (39) was given on Monday a three-year jail sentence, which was conditionally suspended for five years.

She appeared in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court, where magistrate Amrith Chabilall described her as "devious", when he sentenced her on 46 counts of fraud.

Due to her credentials, Benjamin was recruited in Johannesburg for the post of Fractional Ownership Manager with the firm Schonberg Trust Management (SMT), who were contracted to the bodies-corporate at the luxury apartments Howard Hamlet and The Falls, in the Cape.

SMT's function was to ensure proper maintenance and cleaning at the two complexes.

"I take that with more than a pinch of salt"

However, Benjamin opened a bank account in the name of RLB Steel, a fictitious business concern, and created 46 false maintenance jobs.

She forwarded the fake invoices in the name of RLB Steel, to the bodies corporate, who paid amounts totalling R318 972 into the RLB steel account, over a period of a year.

Although Benjamin pleaded guilty, Chabilall disagreed with defence attorney Marc Thomas that this was a sign of remorse.

He added: "I take that with more than a pinch of salt."

Chabilall said he had noted her demeanour in court, which had not given the impression of remorse.

She had tried to manipulate the jail sentence which the court was justified in imposing, with testimony that she was her 10-year-old son's primary care-giver, which she had hoped would influence the sentence.

The frauds had profoundly affected SMT financially, as the business had to compensate the bodies corporate.

"If you so much as steal a pencil"

Chabilall said a jail sentence, which prosecutor Mary Naidoo had demanded, would have withstood any appeals, but he was willing to give her a second chance in life with a suspended jail sentence.

He warned her: "If you so much as steal a pencil, and you are found guilty, this suspended sentence will immediately be put into effect."