Priscilla Presley wins round in elder abuse lawsuit against old business associates

Priscilla Presley has won the first round in an elder abuse lawsuit she filed against her old business associates.

• READ MORE: Sofia Coppola on baring Elvis’ ugly side in ‘Priscilla’: “I never wanted him to be a villain”

On Thursday (April 3), a Los Angeles County judge sided with the former wife of Elvis Presley and ruled that California was the best venue to hear the lawsuit, which claims her ex-associates had conned her out of over $1million.

The complaint, filed last July, accused Florida-based memorabilia auctioneer Brigitte Kruse as well as Kevin Fialko, Vahe Sislyan and Lynn Walker Wright of crookedly convincing her to give them power over her and then abusing that control in efforts to steal her money.

The case will now proceed with its next hearing in a few weeks.

Per Rolling Stone, Judge Mark H. Epstein dismissed the argument by Kruse, Kruse’s husband, and Fialko, who said that Presley’s elder abuse claims against them should be placed on hold while they pursue a separate breach of contract lawsuit against her in Florida.

The defendants argued that fighting a lawsuit in California while simultaneously pursuing their previously filed claims against Presley in Florida would be “extraordinarily inconvenient.”

Epstein said he considered the argument, “yet another in what seems to be a never-ending series of motions … to move this case out of California and into Florida.”  He also rebuffed the claim that Presley signed contracts that agreed to litigate disputes in Florida.

“This is not really a contract-based case at its heart; it is a fraud case,” Epstein wrote in his ruling. “Plaintiff is suing these defendants for fraud and elder abuse, an aspect of which was allegedly bamboozling her into signing those agreements in the first place.”

He went on to say that while Kruse, her husband, and Fialko may reside in Florida and Tennessee, Presley and her alleged witnesses are in California. He also noted that the abuse allegedly occurred in California, giving the state “a strong public interest in the case.”

“Defendants seem to almost ignore the elder abuse allegations, which are not part of the Florida action. But that is the beating heart of the California case,” he wrote. “Plaintiff [Presley] suggests that the witnesses to the elder abuse, the effect it had on plaintiff, and plaintiff’s situation before and after the alleged actions are here, not in Florida. Similarly, plaintiff contends that many of the documents that relate to the claim of abuse are here as well. The court tends to agree.”

The defendants claimed Presley willingly entered into agreements with them to lease a property in Florida and hand over the controlling interest in her publicity rights.

The original filing describes Kruse as a “con-artist and pathological liar” who allegedly stole over $1million from Presley and also claimed that she “fraudulently induced” Presley into signing contracts that gave the defendants named in the lawsuit 80 per cent of her income.

This allegedly included the $500,000 she made from Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation of her biography Elvis and Me and the $349,900 she received in connection with her “Cilla” cosmetics deal. Presley claims that she negotiated the deal for Coppola’s film, titled Priscilla, under a predecessor company before Kruse and Fialko “were even involved in her affairs,” but that the pair “never paid [her] a dime,” per the lawsuit.

The complaint went on to allege that Kruse forced Presley “into a form of indentured servitude, where [she] was forced to work so that they could receive the lion’s share of any revenue that she was able to earn in the future,” (per Rolling Stone).

According to Far Out Magazine, the 45-page complaint saw Presley claim that Kruse had “quickly immersed herself in Presley’s life” following their initial meeting in 2021. The complaint further alleged that Kruse would send “her multiple text messages a day, and telling her how much she loved her and admired her.”

Presley also alleged that Kruse and Fialko “attempted to obtain an invitation to the premiere of Priscilla at the Venice Film Festival” even though they “had absolutely nothing to do with the film.”

The complaint also alleged that Kruse and her associates were attempting to turn Presley against her previous advisors and made up false reasons for “massive payments they made to themselves from Presley’s bank accounts.”

Kruse and Presley have been in a legal battle for some time now with the memorabilia auctioneer previously suing Presley for breach of contract in Florida after claiming that she had walked away from their business partnership following the passing of her daughter Lisa Marie Presley in 2023.

The new suit claimed that Kruse’s previous complaint was in attempt to further control Presley and the narrative of this story. “When it became clear to the defendants that their scheme had been uncovered, they attempted to falsely portray themselves as the victims by filing a lawsuit against Presley in Florida in the name of several of the sham companies they established,” the new complaint states.

Presley is seeking at least $1 million in general damages as well as punitive damages and attorney’s fees. She also seeks to have the “fraudulently-induced agreements” with the defendants rescinded in effort to regain control of her accounts.

“What Presley cannot accomplish through this action, however, is the rehabilitation of her personal friendships and relationships that were disrupted and/or materially harmed by the selfish, fraudulent acts of defendants, which could take years to accomplish, if at all,” stated the filing.

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