An American woman allegedly faked being pregnant to go on maternity leave and was caught out by her boss after her bump fell off.
Robin Folsom, 43, told her bosses she was expecting and arranged with them to take maternity leave from her €89,000 a year job at a marketing agency.
The woman's bosses agreed, taking what Ms Folsom said as the truth. However, things came crashing down when a colleague noticed something suspicious and alerted the employer.
Ms Folsom is now due in court, according to the Daily Star.
The fellow worker noticed Ms Folsom's baby bump had 'come away' from her body, and after an investigation, it was discovered that she had been wearing a fake stomach to look pregnant.
According to a statement from the office of Georgia State Inspector General Scott McAfee, an investigation "revealed that in March 2021, a co-worker observed the lower portion of Folsom's stomach 'come away' from her body," leading her to believe that Ms Folsom wore a fake pregnancy stomach.
Ms Folsom even invented a fake dad for her baby. A man named named "Bran Otmembebwe".
But McAfee said: "We ultimately didn't find any evidence that he existed. That's why she's also been charged with identity fraud."
After "giving birth," Ms Folsom sent baby photos to several co-workers, but the pictures all appeared to be of different babies upon further inspection.
The images "depicted children with varying skin tones," a release from the Inspector General's office stated.
Ms Folsom had told her employers that she had given birth once before, in July 2020, before getting pregnant again in August 2021.
But investigators could find no official records of Ms Folsom having given birth, and her medical insurance records didn't show any charges for prenatal exams or a delivery.
Ms Folsom resigned from her position as Director of External Affairs at Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency last October, shortly after being interviewed about the fake pregnancies, the release said.
Ms Folsom has been charged with three counts of making false statements and one count of identity fraud after a local grand jury indicted her, state Attorney General Chris Carr announced this week.
After the charges were made public, McAfee commented: "All state employees, and especially those that communicate with the media and general public on behalf of their agency, should be held to the highest standards of integrity and honesty.
"Fraud by state employees will not be tolerated," Attorney General Carr said in a statement.
"By working with Georgia's independent inspector general, we were able to discover, investigate and put an end to this alleged deception. We will always stand up to protect taxpayer dollars, and we look forward to presenting our case in court."
