Priscilla Presley Sues Ex-Advisors, Alleges Elder Abuse, Financial Fraud

As the Presley family becomes entangled in another web of legal woes, Priscilla Presley has added her own lawsuit to the mix. She is suing her former financial advisors, accusing them of hatching an “abhorrent scheme” to steal her money, targeting her because of her age.

79-year-old Priscilla was married to the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley from 1967 to 1973. Although Priscilla made Graceland into what would become a thriving business, it is Riley Keough, her granddaughter, who was named the trustee of the Memphis property. In May, Graceland almost ended up on the auction block before officials called it off at the last minute. This is just part of a greater ongoing series of legal battles plaguing the family for months.

Priscilla Presley is suing her former advisors, accusing them of elder abuse

On Thursday, June 18, lawyers for Priscilla filed a complaint against Vahe Sislyan, Brigitte Kruse, Lynn Walker Wright, and Kevin Fialko. The complaint accuses them of fraudulently convincing her to grant them power over several key aspects of her life, then using that control for their own benefit to steal her money.

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“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,” wrote attorney Martin Singer, who now represents Priscilla, “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.”

A tangled web somebody weaves

The complaint further alleges that Priscilla’s former advisors forced “her into a form of indentured servitude, where Plaintiff was forced to work so that they could receive the lion’s share of any revenue that she was able to earn in the future.”

In response, Priscilla wants $1 million in damages. She also wants the defendants to be barred from her finances and for them to hand over full documentation of payment activity.

In a new statement on Monday, Kruse and her own legal team 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.”

The statement concluded, “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.”

Eight months ago, Kruse’s team had filed their own lawsuit against Priscilla in Florida, claiming Priscilla had turned her back on Kruse and Fialko after they worked hard to “dig herself out of impending financial ruin.” Part of their work included negotiating a deal leading to the latest Priscilla biopic. They committed to this intense work “despite the hardship that it imposed on their respective ongoing businesses.”

Priscilla committed a breach of contract by cutting the LLC out of relevant business deals, including excluding Kruse and Fialko from the Priscilla premiere at the Venice Film Festival, as well as NBC’s Christmas at Graceland TV special.

Meanwhile, Singer, on Priscilla’s team, argues, “The fact that the plaintiff in this case is internationally recognized actress, author, and cultural icon … demonstrates both how effective the defendants’ plan was (and needed to be), and how anyone can be a victim of elder abuse and fraud.” Singer also asserts that the Florida case was a smokescreen by Kruse and the current defendants to distract from their own misdeeds. Priscilla’s legal team alleges, “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, alleging that Presley breached the fraudulently-induced operating agreements.”

Will the storm ever calm?