A young woman is accused of committing insurance fraud, and was caught by, of all things, being in a beauty pageant. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
An American beauty could be facing jailtime.
When Shawna Palmer strutted across the stage in a black bikini and sky-high heels at the Miss Toyota Grand Prix Beauty Pageant, she had no idea it would lead to criminal charges.
What did she do?
Authorities say she was collecting workers' compensation for a fractured toe.
Shawna had claimed that she "could not place any weight on her foot...could not move it in any direction...or wear a shoe for any length of time."
She supposedly hurt her toe when she was working as a check-out clerk at a grocery store in Riverside, California.
Deputy Commissioner Byron Tucker of the California Department of Insurance said, "This drags on for not only weeks, but for months. In fact, she never returned to work from what we believed was a fairly insignificant toe injury."
Then investigators came across her Facebook page and there she was, in high heels at the beauty pageant.
"She's walking around in stiletto heels with no sign of injury whatsoever," said Tucker.
INSIDE EDITION caught up with the beauty queen at her arraignment on Friday, but she had no comment.
"Here's a lady that possessed a little bit of beauty. She certainly had a tremendous amount of bravado, but clearly she came up a tad short in the brains department," said Tucker.
She's pled not guilty.
