Priscilla Presleyis suing her former business associates for financial elder abuse and fraud, claiming they conned her out of more than $1 million.
According to the complaint filed Thursday in Los Angeles, the defendants, including Florida-based memorabilia auctioneer Brigitte Kruse and investor Kevin Fialko, forced Presley into a form of indentured servitude, where [she] was forced to work so that they could receive the lions share of any revenue that she was able to earn in the future.
The filing describes Kruse as a con-artist and pathological liar who misappropriated more than $1 million from Presley and fraudulently induced her into signing contracts that gave Kruse and Fialko 80 percent control over some of Priscillas business ventures.
Priscilla Presley on Feb. 8, 2024 in Vienna, Austria.Gisela Schober/Getty Images
This action arises out of a meticulously planned and abhorrent scheme by the defendants in this action to prey on an older woman by gaining her trust, isolating her from the most important people in her life, and duping her into believing that they would take care of her personally and financially while their real goal was to drain her of every last penny she had, the lawsuit filed by Presleys lawyer Martin Singer and obtained byRolling Stonereads.
Priscilla says the defendants placed a stranglehold on her finances and withheld not only the $500,000 she made from Sofia Coppolas film adaptation of her biographyElvis and Me, but also the $349,900 she received in connection with her Cilla cosmetics deal.
Though Priscilla says she negotiated the deal for Coppolas film, titledPriscilla,under a predecessor company before Kruse and Fialko were even involved in her affairs, the pair never paid [her] a dime, the lawsuit states.
Priscilla further alleges Kruse and Fialko attempted to obtain an invitation to the premiere ofPriscillaat the Venice Film Festival even though they had absolutely nothing to do with the film.
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Kruse previously sued Presleyfor breach of contract in Florida.
In that case, Kruse alleged that Presley, a world-famous actress and author who shot to fame through her marriage toElvis Presley, illegally walked away from their business partnership after her circumstances changed in the wake of her daughterLisa Marie Presleys untimely death.
AsRolling Stonereported last fall, Presley eventually reached a trustsettlement with granddaughter Riley Keoughthat granted her a $1 million lump-sum payment, $100,000 annual salary, and burial rights near Elvis at Graceland.
In her new 45-page complaint, Presley says Kruse quickly immersed herself in Presleys life after meeting her in 2021, often sending her multiple text messages a day, and telling her how much she loved her and admired her.
Presley alleges Kruse and her business associates managed to convince Presley that her former advisors were either deceitful or incompetent and then began fabricating reasons for massive payments they made to themselves from Presleys bank accounts.
She alleges they charged her unnecessary fees, moved her accounts to their preferred banks, and allegedly had Presley paying the mortgage for a home owned by Kruses husband.
According to the lawsuit, Kruse and her associates allegedly torpedoed a deal that was close to being finalized in which Presley was set to receive an ownership stake in the cosmetics company behind Cilla.
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Presley, 79, is asking for general damages of at least $1 million as well as punitive damages and attorneys fees.
She also wants all the fraudulently-induced agreements with the defendants rescinded so she can regain control of her accounts and obtain a full accounting of their financial malfeasance.
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, the filing states.
