Priscilla Presley’s former business partners have accused her of trying to “ruin” their lives.
Priscilla Presley’s former business partners have accused her of trying to ‘ruin’ their lives
They hit out after Elvis Presley’s ex-wife’s lawyer Marty Singer filed a lawsuit on 18 July claiming a woman named Brigitte Kruse – and a string of others – took advantage of the 79-year-old and stole $1 million from her as part of financial abuse.
Brigitte’s legal team have now told People in a statement the filing is “retaliatory” for one filed from them against Priscilla in 2023.
They said: “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.”
“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 rumours.
“There will be no further comment at this time as we respect the judicial process.”
Along with Brigitte, Priscilla’s attorney’s filing also named Kevin Fialko, Vahe Sislyan, Lynn Walker Wright and Priscilla Presley Partners.
It claimed Brigitte, who is the founder of Kruse GWS Auctions, controlled her finances and forced her into a form of “indentured servitude” by “gaining her trust”.
The suit said Brigitte also isolated Priscilla from “the most important people in her life”, and duped her into “believing that they would take care of her” personally and financially.
It added: “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.”
The documents also claim by “isolating” Priscilla and “immersing themselves in every aspect of her life”, the defendants were able to “fraudulently induce” her into giving them power of attorney, control over her family and personal trusts, and “control over her bank accounts”.
Priscilla met Brigitte through mutual connections to discuss selling Elvis memorabilia, according to the court documents.
Brigitte then allegedly “quickly” embedded herself in Priscilla’s life and they began working together by the end of 2021.
Priscilla claims she created companies on Brigitte’s advice where her associates received 80 per cent of her income and she was left with minority shares in the company.
She also claims that the defendants withdrew $40,000 from the bank account of her son Navarone Garcia for “no legitimate reason”.
Priscilla is seeking to have the license and operating agreements for the “sham” companies taken back and to block the defendants from having access to her financial accounts.
Brigitte sued Priscilla for an alleged breach of contract in 2023 after they formed Priscilla Presley Partners.
