Priscilla Presley filed a lawsuit against her former business partners, including memorabilia auctioneer Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko, for financial elder abuse and is seeking $1 million in damages, according to Rolling Stone. A complaint was filed on Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court that the managers of Priscilla Presley Partners, LLC had “misappropriated†funds of more than $1 million dollars. “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,†reads the lawsuit from Presley’s lawyer, Martin Singer.
Seemingly in response to the pending lawsuit, Kruse posted a Winston Churchill quote to her Instagram on Saturday afternoon with the caption, “The truth always comes out. Sometimes, you must stand still, pray for those that hurt you so deeply that it steals your breath, your words, breaks your heart and scars your soul. Trust that the good Lord will do the work. I pray for blessings everyday for those that truly need them (even if they have hurt me).â€
“The suit filed is a retaliatory lawsuit due to the one filed by Priscilla’s business partners last year,†legal representatives for Kruse and Fialkov state. “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.â€
Kruse sued Presley in October 2023, claiming that Presley illegally walked away from their business partnership around the time of her daughter Lisa Marie’s death. Presley’s current lawsuit mentions Kruse’s legal claims, writing, “When it became clear to the defendants that their scheme had been uncovered, they attempted to falsely portray themselves as the victims by filing a lawsuit against Presley in Florida in the name of several of the sham companies they established.â€
This post has been updated with a statement.