Priscilla Presley, ex-wife of Elvis Presley, reveals scheme involving alleged elder abuse

Priscilla Presley revealed new details about what she claims is a cruel scheme of elder abuse, which she says resulted in losses exceeding US$1 million. In a sworn statement made on Thursday in Los Angeles, the writer, actress, and ex-wife of Elvis Presley stated that businesswoman Brigitte Kruse, investor Kevin Fialko, and attorney Lynn Walker Wright tricked her into signing several contracts in January 2023, which left her with only minority stakes in companies that control her image and likeness rights.

“I now understand that Kruse and Fialko undertook a broad campaign to isolate me and make me doubt my advisors to the point that they managed to have me replace my advisors with others they suggested. This was crucial to their plan to control my finances for their own benefit,” said Priscilla, 79, in the statement obtained by Rolling Stone.

Regarding the controversial meeting on January 8, 2023, in Florida, Presley stated that she was placed in a room at Kruse’s house, where Wright handed her documents to sign while a camera filmed. She suggested the meeting was a surprise after Kruse and Fialko arranged her trip to Florida for an auction of Elvis Presley-related items, promoted by Kruse’s company, GWS Auctions. Presley claimed she was only “informed” about the meeting with Wright when she arrived in Florida, and an analysis of her legal bills did not confirm Wright’s claim that the contracts were sent in advance to Presley’s attorneys in San Diego.

“I was completely isolated from my other advisors. I was told I couldn’t have anyone with me in the room except Kruse,” Priscilla wrote. “Wright didn’t warn me about the risks of having Kruse in the meeting, even though both Kruse and Fialko were direct opponents in the contracts I was being forced to sign. The meeting was filmed for no legitimate reason, and I understand that Wright later provided a copy of the video to Kruse and Fialko.” Wright “vehemently denied” any conspiracy with Kruse and Fialko in her own sworn statement, filed in September.

Presley filed a lawsuit for elder abuse in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in July, after Kruse sued her separately for breach of contract in Florida the previous year. Kruse claimed that Presley had violated business agreements after her financial situation changed with the death of Lisa Marie Presley. Priscilla Presley initially contested an amendment to her daughter’s will, removing her as co-administrator, but later reached a settlement with her granddaughter Riley Keough, receiving a one-time payment of US$1 million, along with an annual salary of US$100,000 and burial rights next to Elvis at Graceland.

In the 45-page elder abuse lawsuit, Presley described how Kruse “infiltrated” her life after meeting her in 2021, sending daily messages and expressing adoration. The lawsuit claims that Kruse was a “con artist” who took over more than US$1 million from Presley, leading her to sign contracts that gave Kruse and Fialko control of up to 80% of her companies.

“This lawsuit reveals a carefully crafted scheme to exploit an older woman, gaining her trust, isolating her from the most important people in her life, and making her believe they would take care of her, while the real goal was to drain her finances,” said Presley’s attorneys, Martin Singer and T. Wayne Harman.

The next hearing in Presley’s elder abuse case is scheduled for November 21.