A Georgia state employee wore a fake pregnancy belly to get paid maternity leave, according to officials

• A Georgia woman faked multiple pregnancies and was granted paid leave, Georgia officials claim.
• Robin Folsom is also alleged to have written an email that claimed to be from the baby's father.

A Georgia state employee has been indicted for allegedly faking multiple pregnancies to qualify for paid leave, according to state officials.

Robin Folsom, 43, who worked as a communications director for Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA), is alleged to have worn a "fake pregnant stomach." She is also alleged to have sent an email claiming to be from the baby's father mandating that she was entitled to rest.

Both claims were made in a statement published by the Georgia Office of the Inspector General, who announced the indictment.

Attorney General Chris Carr, announced on February 10, that Folsom had been indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on three counts of producing False Statements and one count of Identity Fraud, following an investigation.

In October 2020, Folsom informed the HR department that she was pregnant, according to the statement. Shortly after she announced the pregnancy in May 2021, her employer received an email claiming to be from the father of her child insisting that she be given time to recover.

GVRA approved approximately seven weeks of paid leave — under the Family and Medical Leave Act — "that it otherwise would not have approved," the statement said. When pressed by investigators, Folsom insisted that the baby's father, named in the indictment as Bran Otmembebwe, was a real person.

When officials from the Inspector General's office investigated the case, one coworker claimed they saw Folsom's stomach "fall away" from her, leading them to believe that it was fake.

Colleagues claimed that she also sent pictures of her new baby but they were "inconsistent" and showed the child with varying skin tones.

Folsom had previously announced giving birth to a child in July 2020 but investigators could not find any State Office records of her ever having delivered the child, per the release. She announced she was pregnant again in August 2021.

Although the statement doesn't reveal when the Attorney General was made aware of the case, it said Folsom resigned in October 2021, shortly after being interviewed by investigators.

Her case is being prosecuted by the Georgia Office of the Attorney General.