Priscilla Presley’s ex-business partner slams ‘retaliatory’ financial elder abuse claims

Priscilla Presley is in a legal war with her former business partners.

Presley, 79, sued four of her ex-business associates, including Brigitte Kruse, last week. She claimed they stole over $1 million from her and accused them of financial elder abuse.

Kruse responded to Presley’s claims via her legal team in a statement to PEOPLE on Monday.

“The suit filed is a retaliatory lawsuit due to the one filed by Priscilla’s business partners last year,” the statement read. “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,” it continued.

Kruse concluded, “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.”

In court documents obtained by TMZ, Elvis Presley’s ex-wife sued Kruse, Kevin Fialko, Vahe Sislyan, and Lynn Walker Wright on Thursday in a suit including 12 different complaints.

Presley, who is being represented by Hollywood attorney Marty Singer, alleged that the foursome “meticulously planned” a scheme against “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.”

She said they allegedly planned to steal all of her money by having her “sign contracts” to receive 80% of her income.

The suit alleged that the four defendants “established a personal relationship with Presley that enabled them to gain her complete trust and isolate her from her long-time business and financial advisors.”

Presley claimed Kruse and the other ex-associates pocketed $300,000 from a beauty company deal and took $40,000 out of an account for her son, Navarone Garibaldi, without authorization.

The “Naked Gun” actress called Kruse, who ran a business selling Presley’s memorabilia, a “con artist and pathological liar.”

After the lawsuit was filed, Kruse’s legal team told TMZ, “We cannot respond because counsel has not been served with a copy of the lawsuit. We have alerted Ms. Presley’s attorneys that we do not have a copy of this filing but they have not responded.”

Kruse and Fialko previously filed a joint lawsuit for breach of contract in February.

The duo claimed Kruse prevented Presley from “financial ruin and public embarrassment” when they formed Priscilla Presley Partners.

Kruse alleged that Presley — who was married to Elvis from 1967 to 1973, four years before his death — “was on the brink of insolvency” when they were business partners in 2022.

Presley also said she was involved in developing projects related to the Sofia Coppola-directed film “Priscilla,” based on Presley’s 1985 memoir. The 2023 movie starred Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi.

Presley filed a motion to dismiss the suit, per TMZ, and claimed she cut off communication with Kruse after learning that her former associates “were attempting to misappropriate Ms. Presley’s assets and were engaging in other acts of wrongdoing.”

The “Dallas” actress was involved in a different high-profile legal battle last year.

She fought with her granddaughter, Riley Keough, over her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s estate.

Lisa Marie died of a small bowel obstruction in January 2023. She was 54 years old.

Keough, 35, eventually emerged victorious as the owner of Graceland and her mother’s estate.