Ex-wife asks for extra little one help, claims she is simply too sick to work; Video proof contradicts their claims

EL PASO COUNTY – A News 5 investigative report ends in results for a man who had tried for years to prove his ex-wife milked the court system so she could continue to receive child support.

After a 14-year marriage that ended more than a decade ago, Helga Czarbecki and her lawyer filed papers claiming she was too sick to work and need more support.

Our investigation team found that not only was Czarnecki working, she had no problem telling our undercover cameras how much money she was making.

“It seems like an uphill battle to prove things,” said Greg Czarnecki, Helga’s ex-husband.

KOAA

Gregor and Teresa

Greg and his current wife, Teresa turned to News 5 Investigates for help. The couple claimed that Helga was not being honest about her employment and income in court.

For the past ten years, Helga had collected alimony to support her.

Court records show that Helga’s attorney, R. Gregory Haller, filed papers earlier this year not only to continue spousal payments, but also to increase the amount Helga received from $ 100 to $ 600 per month.

KOAA

Chief Investigative Reporter Eric Ross looks at the court records

Through years of court records, we learned that Helga had a testimony from a former employer claiming that she could no longer lift and work for a building maintenance company.

This may be true at some point, but a cell phone video recorded by one of Helga’s neighbors clearly shows how Helga lifts and moves a pond in the backyard just a few days before she appears in court for a hearing.

Neighbor photo from next door

Helga lifting film for pond

There is also a cell phone video that Teresa provided us with Helga dancing with a stripper in a club.

Video provided by Teresa Czarnecki from Helga’s Facebook page

Helga dances with a stripper (2017)

The couple believe this footage doesn’t hint at a woman too sick to work.

Teresa Czarnecki

Helga’s Facebook post

“If someone could follow her every day and see how she is doing when she goes to the supermarket,” Teresa told News 5. “All we can do is show videos before and after when she’s not watching will how? she is, and then the videos when she’s in the courtroom how she’s doing. “

After our original story aired, Helga called the News 5 Investigates Tippline and left a voicemail.

“For one thing, I never said that I couldn’t work,” said Helga.

You may find this claim strange because Helga’s own lawyer on Aug.

In a request for increased spouse payments, Helga’s lawyer also said that his client’s health deteriorated in 2021 and was deteriorating faster and faster.

Helga’s lawyer also stated that, due to her pain and health problems, she only cared for one client.

“When you are qualified to take care of people’s loved ones, you think that you are qualified to take care of yourself,” said Greg.

News 5 The investigators reacted to an advertisement that Helga had published on the “Nextdoor” website for care services.

Next door

Ad from next door

Remember that Helga’s lawyer tried to get the courts to increase spouse’s payments due to Helga’s medical problems and incapacity for work.

To prove that Helga was fit to work and had multiple jobs, a KOAA employee asked Helga to meet at a local Starbucks to discuss her care services.

Helga met one of our undercover employees at a local Starbucks and admitted she looks after four customers and announced that one of her customers is paying her $ 2,000 a month.

After that meeting and before our original broadcast, we contacted Helga through her lawyer to discuss what we had videotaped.

Haller declined to comment.

After this evidence came to light, we have since learned that Helga has dropped her application for child support. Greg and Teresa don’t have to pay Helga a cent anymore.

Divorce proceedings that had remained “open” in the judicial system for 13 years (since 2009) are now closed just months after our story revealed the truth.

“I knew your story blew her out of the water,” Teresa told News 5 on a follow-up call.

Teresa and Greg are now in Texas, but News 5 Investigates reached out to them by phone for a response.

“There will be no contact, not even through third parties,” said Teresa. “We can’t contact her, and she can’t contact us anyway, and that’s like a fourfold blessing. Not only is it all over, she can never contact us again.”

The only verbal correspondence we received from Helga was via voicemail.

“You don’t know anything,” said Helga. “You are not a good person. You are just an egoist and you don’t know anything about me. You started with a one-sided story and played it because you wanted it on the news. “

News 5 turned to Helga’s attorney twice to find out his reaction to the end of this case.

We didn’t hear anything.

In the meantime, News 5 Investigates reached out to Helga one last time directly to give her the opportunity to explain her side of things.

“I can’t talk to you,” said Helga in a text message.

A subsequent message to Helga was not returned.

Do you need our help to uncover wrongdoing or investigate an issue our community is facing? Send us an email: News5Investigates@KOAA.com

Transparency report:

After our story aired, News 5 received an invitation to testify at an upcoming court hearing on this case. This hearing was vacated because the matter was settled and closed before the scheduled court date. KOAA’s corporate legal team responded to attorneys in this case by telling them that we would continue to report factually on the matter but would not testify on behalf of any of the parties.