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(Source: Jaap Melessen)
Priscilla Vs. Kruse - 1: 0
Last Thursday the L.A. County judge sided with the Priscilla Presley and ruled that California was the best venue to hear the lawsuit, which claims her ex-associates had conned her out of over US$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.
After previously rejecting the defendants’ claims that California had no jurisdiction over them, Judge Mark H. 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.”
In prior declarations to the court, the defendants claimed Priscilla 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, Priscilla 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.” Priscilla’s lawsuit called Kruse a “con-artist and pathological liar” who misappropriated more than US$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.
Priscilla said the defendants placed a “stranglehold” on her finances and withheld not only the US$500,000 she made from Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation of her biography Elvis and Me, but also the US$349,900 she received in connection with her “Cilla” cosmetics deal".
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 US$1 million lump-sum payment, US$100,000 annual salary, and burial rights at Graceland.
A spokesperson for Kruse noted, "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."
(Source: Jaap Melessen / Elvis Information Network / Rolling Stone Magazine)