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Priscilla Presley Hiring Private Investigator to Track Down ‘Con Artist’ Who Allegedly Owes Her $1 Million
Priscilla Presley accused her ex-business associate, Brigitte Kruse, of evading service of her bombshell $1 million financial elder abuse lawsuit, In Touch can exclusively report.
Priscilla, 79, asked the court for additional time to serve Brigitte and others, according to court documents obtained by In Touch. She claimed to have immediately initiated attempts to personally serve Brigitte, at her last known address, after bringing her lawsuit.
However, Priscilla said the defendants “evaded service.”
She claimed Brigitte has been evading service for no legitimate purpose other than to avoid facing liability in this action. She said she needs additional time to track down new addresses and/or utilize the services of a private investigator to serve these “defendants outside of their last known (and current addresses).”
Priscilla said Brigitte is aware of the lawsuit and has spoken publicly about the case. A judge has yet to rule on the request.
As In Touch previously reported, Priscilla filed the lawsuit against several ex-business associates, including Brigitte, in July.
The $1 million complaint, filed by powerhouse attorney Marty Singer, accused the defendants of taking advantage of Priscilla.
Priscilla accused Brigitte of financial elder abuse and various other claims. Elvis’ former wife called Brigitte a “con artist and pathological liar.” She said she met the woman in 2021. At the time, Brigitte ran a business selling Elvis’ memorabilia.
Over time, Priscilla said Brigitte and others took over control over her finances which forced her into a “form of indentured servitude.”
She said they had her sign agreements that paid them 80 percent of her income on deals.
Her lawyer wrote, “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 attorney added, “In just two short years, the Defendants established a personal relationship with [Priscilla] that enabled them to gain her complete trust and isolate her from her long-time business and financial advisors. They convinced [Priscilla] that all of her former advisors were either deceitful or incompetent, and that she was leaving millions of dollars on the table as the result of their mismanagement.”
In the suit, Priscilla accused the defendants of torpedoing a deal that was near finalized to which she was to receive an ownership interest in a cosmetics company, replacing it “with a deal” in which “Priscilla would no longer receive a potentially lucrative ownership interest, but instead would receive a significant up-front payment in excess of $300,000.”
Priscilla said the funds were deposited by defendants into bank accounts they controlled.
On top of that, she said the defendants directed all revenue from her business ventures and appearances to new accounts that they created. “Defendants withdrew $40,000 from the bank account of [Priscilla’s] son, Navarone, for no legitimate reason, and without first getting authorization or even notifying [Priscilla] or Navarone of the intended withdrawal,” the suit alleged.
In addition, she said the defendants misappropriated monies earned by Priscilla for the 2023 film Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola, about her life.
Priscilla sued demanding in excess of $1 million.
A lawyer for Brigitte and another defendant Kevin Fialko told TMZ, “The suit filed is a retaliatory lawsuit due to the one filed by Priscilla’s business partners last year. We are confident that the facts will speak for themselves and justice will prevail. 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.”
The case is ongoing.
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