Ex-wife asks for more child support, claims she’s too ill to work; Video evidence contradicts their claims

EL PASO COUNTY — An investigative report from News 5 ends with findings for a man who spent years trying to prove his ex-wife was taking advantage of the court system so she could continue receiving child support payments.

After a 14-year marriage that ended more than a decade ago, Helga Czarbecki and her lawyer filed a petition claiming she was too ill to work and needed more child support.

Not only did our investigative team uncover that Czarnecki was 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.

SOLDIER

Greg and Teresa

Greg and his now wife Teresa have reached out to News 5 Investigates for help. The couple claimed that Helga was not honest about her employment and income in court.

For a decade, Helga has been collecting alimony payments to make a living.

Court filings 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 a month.

EricRoss

SOLDIER

Senior investigative reporter Eric Ross looks at the court records

As we trawled through years of court records, we learned that Helga had testimony from a former employer who claimed she could no longer lift and was working at a building maintenance company.

While this may have been the case at one point, cell phone video taken by Helga’s neighbors clearly shows Helga lifting and moving a backyard pond liner just days before appearing in court for a hearing.

Helga lifting foil for pond

Photo of the neighbor next door

Helga lifting foil for pond

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

Helga appears to be dancing with a stripper

Video provided by Teresa Czarnecki from Helga’s Facebook page

Helga seems to be dancing with a stripper (2017)

The couple believe this footage does not indicate a woman who is too ill to work.

Weekend Facebook post

Teresa Czarnecki

Helga’s Facebook post

“If someone could just follow her daily and see how she’s doing when she goes to the grocery store,” Teresa told News 5. “We can only show before and after videos of her showing how she’s doing when she’s not being watched.” 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 hotline and left a voicemail.

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

You may find this claim odd because Helga’s own attorney filed court papers on June 8, 2021, specifically telling the courts that Helga “was unable to work at all from the last week of May.”

In a request for increased spousal payments, Helga’s attorney also said his client’s health had deteriorated in 2021 and continued to deteriorate at an accelerated rate.

Helga’s attorney also stated that due to her pain and health issues, she only has one client as a caregiver.

“If you’re qualified to take care of other people’s loved ones, think you’re qualified to take care of yourself,” Greg said.

News 5 Investigates responded to an advert that Helga posted on the care services website Nextdoor.

Nextdoor ad

Next door

Nextdoor ad

Remember that Helga’s attorney tried to get the courts to increase the spousal payment due to Helga’s health problems and incapacity to work.

To prove that Helga was able-bodied and had multiple jobs, a KOAA employee asked Helga to meet at a local Starbucks to talk about her nursing services.

Helga met one of our undercover employees at a local Starbucks and admitted that she takes care of four customers and revealed that one of her customers pays her $2,000 a month.

After that meeting and prior to our original transmission, we contacted Helga through her attorney to discuss what we captured on video.

Haller declined to comment.

After this evidence came to light, we have since learned that Helga withdrew her claim for child support. In the future, Greg and Teresa will not have to pay Helga a penny.

A divorce case that has remained “open” in the court system for 13 years (since 2009) is now closed just months after our story exposed the truth.

“I knew your story would blow her mind,” Teresa told News 5 in a subsequent call.

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

“There will be no contact, not even through third parties,” Teresa said. “We can’t contact her, and she can’t reach us anyway, and that’s like a quadruple blessing. Not only is it all over, she will never be able to 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’re just an egoist and you don’t know anything about me. You started with a one-sided story and acted it out because you wanted it on the news.”

News 5 reached out to Helga’s attorney twice for his reaction to the closure of this case.

We did not get an answer.

In the meantime, News 5 Investigates has reached out to Helga directly one last time to give her the chance to explain her point of view.

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

A later message to Helga was not answered.

Do you need our help exposing wrongdoing or solving an issue our community is facing? Email us at: News5Investigates@KOAA.com

Transparency Report:

After our story aired, News 5 received a request to testify in court at an upcoming hearing on the case. That hearing was canceled as the matter was resolved and concluded before the scheduled court date. KOAA’s corporate legal team responded to the attorneys in this case by telling them that we would continue to report factually on this matter but would not testify on behalf of either party.

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