A fraudster has been jailed after using his late wife’s £200,000 life insurance payout meant for her children to fund luxury holidays with his new girlfriend. Krzysztof Baczynski tricked his step-daughter into signing over the money, which was meant for her younger brother when he turned 25, a court heard.
Baczynski, 40, treated the cash “as if it was his own” – even using some while his wife was still alive. Anna Miszczuk died two months after a cancer diagnosis in September 2017. Ms Miszczuk has assigned her daughter as the trustee of her insurance policies.
The court heard how Baczynski gave his step-children the impression that he was looking after the money, when he was actually spending it on luxury holidays and a failing business.
In the months after her death he went to Tenerife, Moscow and Poland with a new girlfriend. 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, and even bought a hot tub.
He also took his step-children on holiday who were unaware he was using their mother’s money to fund the trip. Jurors heard he spent the 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 December 4 and told he would be subject to a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing in a bid to claw back some of the money.
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.”
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 a 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.”
