Priscilla Presley won a round in court when a judge ruled that one of two of her former business associates she is suing for elder abuse, and that former associate’s husband, will remain defendants in her lawsuit alleging she was bilked out of more than $1 million.
The ruling by Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein comes two months after the judge denied a similar motion by investor Kevin Fialko to quash the summons served on him. Fialko maintained he is a Tennessee resident, that there is an ongoing case against Presley in Florida and that he has no ties to California, therefore barring a California judge from having personal jurisdiction over him.
On Thursday, the judge ruled that Florida-based memorabilia auctioneer Brigitte Kruse and her husband, Vahe Sislyan, also will stay in the case as defendants. Both contended that they were not properly served and that California lacks personal jurisdiction over them.
“Having considered the evidence properly before the court, the court finds that there is sufficient evidence to establish that defendants were properly served and that California has jurisdiction over them for purposes of this case,” the judge wrote. “The motion is therefore denied.”
In her suit filed last July 18, Presley, the 79-year-old former wife of Elvis Presley, alleges Kruse and Fialko engaged in a scheme to separate her from her long-time advisers so as to defraud her out of more than $1 million.
The alleged plan of action included forming various entities under Florida law even though Presley lives in California.