Colleagues grew suspicious when they saw her bump come away from her body

  • Robin Folsom, 43, said she was pregnant and allegedly wore a fake bump at work
  • She received seven weeks off at the request of the ‘father’ Bran Otmembebwe
  • Investigators say Otmembebwe does not exist and neither does her child
  • Folsom was on a $100,000 a year salary as director of external affairs 

A former Georgia State official pretended to be pregnant to take paid maternity leave and even faked a baby bump and sent photos of her ‘newborn’ to her colleagues, authorities have said.

Robin Folsom, 43, was exposed after staff at the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency saw her fake pregnancy stomach ‘come away’ from her body and noticed her baby photos featured children with ‘varying skin tones’, investigators say.

The director of external affairs was on a $100,000 a year salary when she made up a fake father by the name of Bran Otmembebwe for her audacious plan to swindle $15,000 in paid leave, the Georgia Office of the Inspector General said.

‘Otmembebwe’ emailed Folsom’s bosses to say she was under doctor’s orders to stay at home for several weeks of bed rest after the apparent birth in May 2021, after she had been walking around the office with a false bump.

She was granted seven weeks of paid leave by the GVRA.

Questions about the legitimacy of the pregnancy started two months before the apparent birth, when a colleague ‘observed the lower portion of Folsom’s stomach ‘come away’ from her body and believed Folsom wore a fake pregnancy stomach’.

Folsom then tried to keep up the ruse by sending photos of the baby to her colleagues during her time off after the ‘birth’, investigators say.

But they said: ‘The pictures appeared to be inconsistent and depicted children with varying skin tones.’

The high-level employee claimed to have previously given birth in July 2020, but the IG’s office found no evidence of her having ever had a child and insurance records indicate no pregnancy or delivery at the Piedmont Hospital.

When quizzed by investigators in October 2021, Folsom insisted Otmembebwe was a real person and the father of her child.

She has now been indicted by a Fulton County grand jury with three counts of making false statements and one count of identity fraud.

The state employee resigned during the probe.

State Inspector General Scott McAfee said: ‘All state employees, and especially those that communicate with the media and general public on behalf on their agency, should be held to the highest standards of integrity and honesty.

‘OIG will continue to hold state employees accountable if they choose to deceive their superiors and receive undeserved compensation.’

The Georgia Office of the Attorney General is prosecuting the case.

Folsom could face up to 10 years in prison for identity fraud and up to five years for each charge of making false statements, and a fine of up to $100,000.

A court date has not yet been set.