A Georgia woman allegedly faked several pregnancies in order to benefit from paid maternity leave, but co-workers became suspicious when they saw her fake baby bump detach from her body.
In October of 2020, Robin Folsom, who worked as Director of External Affairs at Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, told her bosses that she was expecting a baby and arranged to take maternity leave. She reportedly had a yearly salary of $100,000 and was entitled to $15,000 in paid leave. However, during her alleged pregnancy, one of her co-workers noticed a bizarre incident in which Folsom’s baby bump seemed to “come away” from her body, which led them to believe that she was wearing a fake pregnancy stomach.
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Things got even weirder after Folsom allegedly gave birth, as the paid leave kicked in and she started sending co-workers photos of her newborn, which, according to the inspector general’s office, depicted children “with varying skin tones”.
43-year-old Folsom also stands accused of making up the father of her made-up baby, one Bran Otmembebwe, who started emailing her former bosses to say that she was under doctor’s orders to stay at home for several weeks of bed rest, soon after she gave birth.
All these red flags prompted an investigation that revealed no official records of Robin Folsom having given birth. To make matters worse, her medical insurance records didn’t show any charges for prenatal exams or a delivery. That was strange, considering that she had reported the birth of another child in July 2020, and claimed to be pregnant again in August 2021.
Folsom resigned from her workplace in October 2021, soon after being interviewed by state investigators about her pregnancies and the requested paid leave, but that didn’t make all her problems disappear. A review of medical and insurance records found no evidence that the woman delivered a real child.
If convicted, Robin Folsom faces up to 10 years in prison for identity fraud and up to five years in prison for each charge of making false statements. She also risks up to $103,000 in fines if found guilty of all charges.
We’ve seen women fake pregnancies before, but mostly to keep partners from breaking up with them, not for some paid time off work…