Fraudster used dead wife's £200k insurance payout to travel with new girlfriend
A fraudster who used his late wife's £200,000 life insurance payout to fund luxury holidays with his new girlfriend has been put behind bars.
Krzysztof Baczynski tricked his step-daughter into signing over the money, which was meant for her younger brother when he turned 25. Baczynski, 40, treated the cash "as if it was his own", even using some while his wife was still alive.
He led his step-children to believe he was looking after the money, but instead, he was splashing out on trips with his new partner. He also invested in a shop and used some of the money to support his failing business, which was part of a cosmetics pyramid scheme. After his wife's death, he and his new girlfriend jetted off to Tenerife, Moscow and Poland, and even bought a hot tub.
During this time, he shamelessly took his step-children on holiday, pretending his thriving business was footing the bill. The court heard that he squandered his wife's entire £200,000 life insurance payout in just nine months. He was caught after he took pictures of himself and his new partner "living it up" at fancy restaurants and enjoying themselves in their hot tub.
Following a trial at Northampton Crown Court, Baczynski, of Wellingborough, Northants., was found guilty of one count of fraud. He was cleared of another count of fraud by false representation. He was jailed for four years on Monday 4 December and told he would be subject to a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing in a bid to claw back some of money.
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His Honour Judge David Herbert KC said: “The money was released into your account with the knowledge of your step-daughter. Both her and her brother were unaware that you began to spend the money in the way that you did. I am quite satisfied that it was Anna’s wish that her son should receive all of that money. The evidence in the trial was that money would be shared with his sister.”
Judge Herbert told Baczyński he spent the money "as if it were his own", adding: "Within nine months you had spent it all. He said: "The jury heard how you spent it on various holidays around Europe, a car, investing significant sums of money in your business. You were also loaning sums of money to others.
"It’s now all gone. Anna’s children were under the impression you were doing well in your business. You don’t seem to be able to accept that was Anna’s children’s inheritance. It was her dying wish they received it to set them up for life. You agreed those wishes and failed to safeguard the money for her children and essentially squandered it on yourself.
"Your reckless attitude to the money is well summed-up by photographs of you living it up in restaurants and relaxing in hot-tubs with a girl with whom you were in a relationship at that time. You even gifted her some of the money. It’s clear you have no idea how disgustingly you have behaved. You still persist in your claim you were going to repay the money. I am quite satisfied you won’t and never had any intention of doing so. Now, when the money is long-gone you have still done nothing to redress the position."
In a victim impact statement, Baczynski's step-daughter said his crime had left the family devastated. She said: "Had me and my brother received the payments, our financial situation would have been very different. We are currently in debt and our mother's death had a great effect on us. We were not able to pay the rent last month.
"I feel like my brother and I lost years of having kind of relationship with our father because of his poisoning of our minds. When my mother was dying she felt like her children were financially secure. This incident has taken over my life. I've been unable to forget about it. It's been hard to put into words the gravity of the impact this has had."
Catherine Rose, defending Baczynski, said: "This was an opportunistic crime, once he had the money in his account. His only significant personal relationship is with his dog."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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