Priscilla Presley Wins Round in Elder Abuse Lawsuit Against Ex-Associates

A Los Angeles County judge has sided with Priscilla Presley and ruled California is the best venue to hear her elder abuse lawsuit against the group of ex-associates she claims duped her out of more than $1 million. That means the case can proceed with its next hearing in a few weeks.

In a new ruling issued Thursday, Judge Mark H. Epstein shot down the argument by Florida memorabilia dealer Brigitte Kruse, Kruse’s husband, and investor Kevin Fialko that Presley’s elder abuse claims against them should be placed on hold while they pursue a separate breach of contract lawsuit against Presley in Florida. The defendants had argued that fighting Presley’s lawsuit on the west coast while simultaneously pursuing their previously filed claims against Presley in Florida would be “extraordinarily inconvenient.”

After previously rejecting the defendants’ claims that California had no jurisdiction over them, Epstein said he considered the latest legal push “yet another in what seems to be a never-ending series of motions … to move this case out of California and into Florida.” He rebuffed the argument that Florida was the best venue in terms of preserving private and public resources. He also brushed off 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 obtained by Rolling Stone. “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.”

Judge Epstein said 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.” He faulted the defendants for not addressing these issues adequately in their joint motion.

“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.”

Lawyers for Kruse, her husband, and Fialko did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. In prior declarations to the court, the defendants claimed Presley willingly entered into agreements with them to lease a property in Florida and fork over the controlling interest in her publicity rights.

In her 45-page elder abuse complaint filed last July, Presley claimed Kruse “quickly immersed herself” in her 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’s lawsuit called Kruse 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 between 51 percent and 80 percent control over closely held companies owning and exploiting her name, image and likeness.

“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 Presley’s lawyers Martin Singer and T. Wayne Harman read.

Presley said the defendants placed a “stranglehold” on her finances and withheld not only the $500,000 she made from Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation of her biography Elvis and Me, but also the $349,900 she received in connection with her “Cilla” cosmetics deal. Though Priscilla said she negotiated the deal for Coppola’s film, titled Priscilla, under a predecessor company before Kruse and Fialko “were even involved in her affairs,” the pair “never paid [her] a dime,” the lawsuit said. Priscilla further alleged 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.”

In her dueling breach of contract lawsuit, Kruse alleges that Presley illegally walked out on their various business agreements when her financial circumstances changed in the wake of her daughter Lisa Marie’s death. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Presley challenged a 2016 amendment to her daughter’s Promenade Trust that removed her as a co-trustee but then quickly reached a generous settlement with granddaughter Riley Keough that granted her a $1 million lump-sum payment, $100,000 annual salary, and burial rights near Elvis at Graceland.

In a statement previously sent to Rolling Stone, a spokesperson for Kruse called Presley’s elder abuse lawsuit a “retaliatory” response to Kruse’s breach of contract case. “We are confident that the facts will speak for themselves and justice will prevail,” the statement said. “It saddens all of us who dropped our lives to provide aid to a woman who needed help and she is now attempting to use her celebrity status to ruin the lives of kind, hardworking people. Thank you to all of our supporters who have stood by us during this difficult time. We will continue to focus on our business and look forward to our day in court. The truth will come out by way of evidence and not rumors. There will be no further comment at this time as we respect the judicial process.”