Julie Gallagher sold her house through Connells’ Abingdon office, where Panorama went undercover
“She’s probably done me out of quite a bit of money – I feel angry and conned.”
Julie Gallagher believes her home was sold at a lower price than it could have gone for. There was a buyer who might have offered more for it, an undercover investigation by BBC Panorama can reveal.
Her Connells estate agent appeared to sideline this potential buyer in favour of someone else who had agreed to take out an in-house mortgage.
That mortgage was said to be worth about £2,000 to Connells, while the company potentially stood to make £10,000 in total by arranging add-on services and selling the buyer’s property too.
“She sat on this sofa… and said she was actually working for me and she obviously is not, she’s working for the company’s ends,” says Julie. “How dare Connells do that? Just appalling.”
Panorama decided to investigate the company after speaking to more than 20 independent financial advisers (IFAs) and mortgage advisers from across England and Wales who had concerns about how the company operated.
One of the biggest estate agencies in the UK, Connells runs 80 chains with more than 1,200 branches. Our undercover reporter, Lucy Vallance, got a job in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in an own-brand office.
Watch: In Abingdon, a potential buyer taking Connells’ in-house services appeared to be favoured over another who wasn’t
During her six weeks there in February, she found evidence that the senior branch manager favoured prospective buyers, if they were planning to take out Connells in-house services, like conveyancing or mortgages, because it made more money for the company.
Connells told us it is “committed to treating all customers and prospective buyers fairly.”
Panorama also investigated the online estate agency Purplebricks, after we heard concerns it had been trying to attract sellers by overvaluing properties.
Once a customer was signed up, staff then tried to convince them to cut the asking price, earning commission if successful – a former sales negotiator told us. The whistleblower, who worked for the company between June and October 2024, also filmed online meetings for Panorama.
Purplebricks told us price reductions were once a target for rewarding staff, but that is no longer the case, and it does not overvalue properties to win instructions.
‘Hot buyers’
In Abingdon, the undercover reporter found that trying to arrange mortgages could be as important as selling houses – and that Connells’ staff felt under pressure to get people signed up.
Connells, like many other estate agencies, has an in-house mortgage-brokering team.
The independent financial advisers we have spoken to – who compete for customers with estate agents’ in-house services – say this pressure can lead to some agents in the industry playing fast and loose with the rules.
One practice known as “conditional selling” is forbidden by the Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents, of which many companies across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – including Connells – are signatories.
This is when an estate agent suggests, implies or tells you that you must arrange things like mortgages or conveyancing services through their in-house teams – or there will be negative consequences for a deal.
It means estate agents signed up to the code know they should not discriminate against prospective buyers who don’t use their in-house services.
Connells’ senior branch manager told our reporter, at one point, that she understood conditional selling was not allowed.
But that wasn’t the full picture.
Estate agents are supposed to work in the best interests of their clients, but we saw how pressure for profit shaped decisions at Connells in Abingdon.
One Saturday, our reporter was asked to host an open-house viewing for Julie’s four-bedroom house, which was on the market for offers over £300,000. It attracted great interest. Fifteen people attended and others also wanted to book separate viewings.
But the following Monday, the senior branch manager seemed interested in two possible buyers – those speaking to Connells’ in-house brokers. The next day, via WhatsApp, she told her staff not to arrange any more viewings on Julie’s house.
One signed up to a Connells-brokered mortgage and became known by the senior branch manager as a “hot buyer”.
A board in the office titled “Hot Buyers” had the names of all house hunters at the branch who had agreed to take out a mortgage or a conveyancing package through Connells.
The hot buyer for Julie’s house made an initial offer, which she rejected, but eventually upped it to successfully secure the property.
There was another potential buyer interested in the house who appeared to have deeper pockets – a cash buyer. She wasn’t taking out a mortgage through the company.
Connells told us they spoke to the cash buyer the Monday after the open house and that she was undecided about putting in an offer. A call from the cash buyer later the same day was missed, said the company, and not followed up.
When the undercover reporter told the office administrator that the cash buyer might have offered more, she was told that “just a sale” was “not good enough” for Connells.
“They will probably more likely aim to get somebody who’s signed up with us and wants to use our conveyancing, as opposed to someone who is a cash buyer,” said the administrator. “That’s just how Connells are. That’s why they ride you if you don’t have enough mortgage appointments.”
Connells’ senior branch manager has “taken options out of my hands and probably done me out of quite a bit of money”, says Julie Gallagher
Lisa Webb, consumer law expert with Which? Magazine, reviewed Panorama’s evidence of how this sale was managed.
“This is absolutely something that should be against the law – and something that I think that these estate agents really ought to be investigated by the authorities for, because this should not be happening,” she told us.
The undercover reporter secretly filmed her boss – the senior branch manager – saying why she was so keen on the hot buyer. Not only would it mean collecting fees from the seller, the manager explained, but also commission from the in-house mortgage with conveyancing fees on top.
In addition, Connells would try to sell the hot buyer’s old house – and earn more fees.
The senior branch manager said the combined deal could, in total, be worth £10,000 to the company.
“That, in itself, is just appalling behaviour,” said Lisa Webb from Which? when we showed her the footage.
Connells says “no harm has been caused” to the customer
According to the 1979 Estate Agents Act it is classed as an “undesirable practice” for estate agents to discriminate against prospective buyers if they don’t take out a mortgage through in-house brokers.
If they do this, they can be investigated by Trading Standards. But it looks like the rules may not cover the sidelining of potential buyers as seen by Panorama’s undercover reporter.
Those rules need to be updated, according to financial journalist Iona Bain.
“There’s clearly a grey area here, whereby estate agents are able to accept one buyer that will use the in-house broker and turn everybody else away,” she told us.
Homeowner Julie, who has now packed up and left her house ahead of the sale going through, was horrified when we told her what had happened.
“I’m quite appalled really that… she [senior branch manager] has kind of taken options out of my hands and probably done me out of quite a bit of money, really.”
If you have more information about this story, you can reach Panorama directly by email – [email protected]
Connells said it rejects “any accusation of conditional selling” and that “no harm has been caused” to the customer. There were other offers on Julie’s property, it told us, but the accepted offer was the highest.
“It is not the case that customers who use our mortgage services are more likely to successfully purchase a property than those who do not,” it added. It said that in the six-week period Panorama was undercover, only two properties out of 14 went to customers using the in-house mortgage service.
It also said it invests “significant time and resources in training our teams to ensure they understand the laws, regulations and guidelines within which they must operate”.
“Any employee found to be in breach of these standards faces strict disciplinary action, including dismissal,” Connells said.
The senior branch manager told Panorama she was content for Connells to respond on her behalf.
‘Overvaluing properties massively’
At Purplebricks, a whistleblower began secretly filming meetings because she says she became frustrated with how the company was being run.
Firstly on her phone, then with a camera provided by Panorama.
The biggest shock for the whistleblower was learning that staff were being incentivised to get price reductions on properties – many of which, she was told by one of the company’s local property agents, appeared to have been put on the market for more than they were worth.
“We are overvaluing properties massively just to gain instructions,” said the agent to the whistleblower in a private message.
Estate agents often use property valuations to attract customers – and subsequently dropping the asking price is not unusual. The estate agents’ code tells companies they “must never deliberately misrepresent the market value of a property”.
Purplebricks has adverts, like this one, which say customers can sell their homes for free
The whistleblower was also told in the same message from the agent that staff could earn commission if they persuaded sellers to drop their asking prices.
The same agent suggested to her that 18 price drops per month could earn staff £900 in commission.
In an online meeting, the whistleblower’s team leader told staff how to approach conversations with sellers about price drops.
He said, when properties go live, sellers can be told that if there aren’t many viewings or offers within the first four weeks then they should “have a conversation about [price] reduction”.
“So they won’t necessarily push the reduction there and then, but they will plant the seed,” he added.
Purplebricks told us it doesn’t overvalue properties and that while price reductions were once a target for rewarding staff, that was no longer the case. It said it doesn’t claim to be perfect and apologises wherever it has fallen short.
The Purplebricks whistleblower recorded online meetings for Panorama
Purplebricks staff were also under pressure to sell financial products like mortgages and conveyancing, the whistleblower told us.
During the time she worked there, she said the company encouraged customers to get their conveyancing done through companies it had deals with, rather than look elsewhere.
“We don’t want them to get a quote for comparison because we are by far and away very expensive,” said her team leader during an online meeting.
When Ryan Evans and Olivia Phelps bought a two-bedroom house in Sutton-in-Ashfield through Purplebricks they ended up buying conveyancing services through the company.
Ryan Evans told us he felt Purplebricks “had taken advantage of us a bit because we were first-time buyers”
They paid £2,820 last summer. Using price comparison websites, Panorama found that was nearly three times more than the current cheapest quote for the same property.
“We were none the wiser having never done all this before. I certainly felt like maybe they [Purplebricks] had taken advantage of us a bit because we were first-time buyers,” Ryan told us.
Like Connells, Purplebricks is also signed up to the Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents which says: “You should provide a service to both buyers and sellers consistent with fairness, integrity and best practice.”
Our whistleblower also recorded her team leader firing-up staff to sell add-on products in addition to conveyancing.
“So let’s try and really squeeze every lead for as much as it’s got – and I want us to be a bit more relentless,” he told staff at one meeting. “The urgency is massive… there is still a heinous amount of money to be made.”
Anyone working in sales is encouraged to sell more, says Lisa Webb of Which?, but it is “a real issue” if an estate agent is “incentivising someone to make a very quick decision” or pressuring them “into making decisions too quickly… before they’ve had the option to shop around”.
Purplebricks said it entirely rejects any portrayal of its service as pressure-selling, adding that it does not promote hard-selling and that it focuses on the benefits, not price, when recommending services.
In a statement, it also said that since new owners took over in 2023, it has “worked hard to improve service and build a team and culture that puts customers first”.
The whistleblower’s team leader did not want to comment and told us he had left Purplebricks.
I lost my heart to this beautiful part of the country and now I can’t wait to return
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The Farmhouse is tucked away in a stunning corner of the Suffolk countryside(Image: Laura McKenna)
Tucked away in the undulating hills of Suffolk, The Wilderness Reserve offers a quintessential English summer experience. I recently had the pleasure of spending a weekend there and was utterly charmed by this tranquil corner of the county, bathed in the glow of a June heatwave sun.
The walled garden was a riot of colour as I watched a couple tie the knot, and while enjoying elderflower cocktails, I felt like I’d stepped into a Merchant Ivory film. But it wasn’t just the stunning venue that captivated me to be honest, the entire region truly stole my heart.
Suffolk, with its gently rolling hills, expansive skies, and patchwork of fields, meadows, and ancient woodlands, epitomises rural England. The 8,000-acre private estate near Saxmundham is just one of many highlights in the area, with attractions such as Framlingham Castle, Sutton Hoo, RSPB Minsmere, and Yoxford Antiques Centre and Gardens all within easy reach.
Scattered with picturesque villages, timber-framed cottages, medieval churches, and quiet lanes, much of Suffolk is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Then there is the stunning Suffolk coastline with its mix of sandy beaches, rugged cliffs and pretty seaside towns. Southwold is known for its beautiful beaches, iconic lighthouse and Victorian pier, while Aldeburgh Aldeburgh offers a more artistic atmosphere with its historic high street and rich cultural heritage, including the famous Aldeburgh Festival.
Framlingham Castle is nestled away in the Suffolk countryside(Image: Getty)
Nearby, there lies the 12th-century Framlingham Castle, while the town of Woodbridge is home to the impressive Tide Mill and a charming blend of Georgian buildings and independent shops. While a visit to the Wilderness Reserve was a delicious treat, there are so many other ways to explore the region, along with a multitude of places to stay.
Take Winkle Cottage for instance – a fishermans cottage bathed in Aldeburgh’s seaside charm. This classic fisherman’s cottage offers snug living spaces and can comfortably accommodate five guests. It has been praised by visitors as “a great place to stay.”
The village of Campsea Ash also hosts an ideal spot for larger family reunions, offering a glorious barn conversion on a private estate. Quill Farm Barn is touted as a “delightful” holiday home, nestled away in “the perfect setting.” Then there’s the Sea Tower, a chic apartment boasting sea vistas that has earned accolades as “a special place” or the grand Holly Lodge – a robust five-bedroom countryside house capable of hosting group getaways for up to 10 individuals.
The pretty seafront at Aldeburgh(Image: Getty Images)
For something completely different, the Pound Farm Mirror Houses in Framlingham offer contemporary dwellings in the heart of the countryside. An upscale alternative to traditional ‘tiny homes’ each house comes with its own hot tub.
Booking.com boasts a diverse array of accommodation options in Suffolk. The Swan Hotel in Southwold, a four-star establishment nestled within a historic building just 200 metres from the seafront, is one such gem. For those seeking a more traditional vibe, The Ship at Dunwich serves up home-cooked fare and real ales in an authentic inn setting.
Adventure-seekers drawn to RSPB Minsmere will find Moonlight Lodge an ideal retreat close by. Available through Holidaycottages.co.uk, it’s set against the backdrop of Dunwich beach and surrounded by woodlands – a nature lover’s dream.
For a touch of grandeur, The Great House in Orford stands as a majestic Grade II-listed holiday home right in the village’s heart. This quintessential country haven sleeps 12 and has been hailed as “a stunning house” and “absolutely perfect for larger parties” by visitors.
Stay in a country idyll like The Great House in Orford(Image: Getty Images)
The tranquil beauty of Suffolk has garnered thousands of glowing reviews on TripAdvisor from enamoured visitors. One tourist said: “Loved our afternoon in Southwold especially the pier! Such a pleasant surprise to have a clean characterful pier with a brilliant quirky water fuelled clock at the end! The beaches looked amazing, beautiful clean sand and so pretty with the huts behind!”.
Another visitor, charmed by Aldeburgh, shared: “It was a dream in July to swim in the early hours of the morning and have fish and chips looking out to sea.”
Of course, the accommodation is key to any memorable holiday, and Sykes Cottages are dazzling holidaymakers, boasting a 4.6 out of five-star rating. One chuffed guest remarked: “We wanted a quiet weekend getaway and we found exactly that in Suffolk. Perfect for young and old…the cottage we booked we know it’s a fabulous place and beautifully presented.”
The pretty villages are like stepping back in time(Image: Getty)
Another satisfied customer shared: “Suffolk in the sunshine. This was an important family holiday following my dad being very unwell last year, our holiday with Sykes gave us the quality time we needed and the chance to make some wonderful memories.”
However, not all feedback was glowing. A less impressed guest posted a three-star review: “Sykes offer a vast range of holiday accommodation. From experience so far, the description and photos of accommodation are fairly accurate, however, the cleanliness of the accommodation is another matter. It is difficult to get hold of anyone from Sykes by telephone.”
But praise continued with another beaming five-star critique: “We were looking for pet friendly cottages in Suffolk, Sykes cottages came up with the goods. A nice cottage plenty of details about the cottage giving us all the details we needed. So many thanks looking forward to our holiday.”
In the summer of 2021, Priscilla Presley seemed to be riding high.
The ex-wife of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll had appeared at Graceland during the annual Elvis Week celebration and later hosted a three-day festival at the famous manse extolling the virtues of elegant southern living. Then there were the highly anticipated upcoming biopics: director Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” and Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” based on her 1985 memoir, for which she served as an executive producer.
Privately, however, it was a difficult time for the actress. Priscilla was mourning the passing of her mother, just a year after her grandson, Benjamin Keough, the only son of her daughter Lisa Marie Presley, had committed suicide at 27. Adding to her personal woes, Elvis’ former bride was in a serious financial hole, as court filings would later claim.
Then she met Brigitte Kruse, a flamboyant, fifth-generation auctioneer and self-styled philanthropist who specialized in high-profile celebrity memorabilia, royal objects, estates and fine jewelry sales. In 2017, Kruse gained a measure of renown when she sold an abandoned private plane known as the “lost jet” once owned by Elvis for $498,000.
After the pair were introduced, they launched a joint venture that would cash in on Priscilla’s famous name, image and likeness through her paid public appearances and other projects.
Within months of their initial meeting, Priscilla began lending her name to some of Kruse’s online Elvis memorabilia auctions with GWS Auctions Inc., based in Agoura Hills.
Priscilla Presley at a 2014 event held at Graceland in Memphis.
(Lance Murphey / Associated Press)
Less than two years later, their partnership was in tatters, with the two women trading bitter allegations in dueling lawsuits.
Priscilla, 80, called Kruse, who was half her age, a “con-artist and pathological liar” who had forced her into a “form of indentured servitude,” leading her into signing away 80% of her income and conning her out of more than $1 million, according to the fraud and elder abuse lawsuit she filed against Kruse and her business associates in Los Angeles last year.
Kruse, who did not respond to requests for comment, has disputed Priscilla Presley’s claims, depicting herself in court filings as her financial savior who faced retaliation after she sued Priscilla for breach of contract a year earlier.
The litigation is the latest in a string of legal battles that Priscilla and the Presley heirs have been involved in since Elvis died nearly 50 years ago, leaving a financial legacy as messy and fraught as the King’s life.
While the storied Presley family has forever been enshrined in celebrity as America’s reigning pop culture icons, Elvis’ estate has long been the spigot of his heirs’ fortunes and misfortunes, spilling out from the gates of Graceland.
As Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises once said about another dispute involving the estate:
“People have been trying to take from Elvis since Elvis was Elvis.”
Inheriting a messy estate
When 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu met Elvis Presley in 1959, he was already Elvis. She was the stepdaughter of an U.S. Air Force officer, living in West Germany where the rocker, then 24, was stationed during his military service.
Four years later, Priscilla moved to Memphis and stepped inside the gilded cage of Elvis’ fame. In 1967, the couple married in Las Vegas. With the birth of their daughter Lisa Marie nine months later, a rock ‘n’ roll dynasty was born.
Lisa Marie was born in 1968, nine months after Elvis and Priscilla married in Las Vegas.
(Associated Press)
But life inside of the irresistible mythology of Elvis proved stifling. He was mostly on tour and in a haze of drugs and affairs. At 28, Priscilla divorced the rocker, but not his stardom.
She built an agile career out of the ashes of their romance. Priscilla went on to become an actress with a recurring role in the 1980s CBS hit series “Dallas,” starred in several of the “Naked Gun” movies and appeared in other television shows; she also authored books and launched a fragrance.
But she never strayed far from the buzzy afterlife of Elvis’ orbit.
When Elvis died in 1977, their daughter Lisa Marie was just nine and his father, Vernon Presley, took the reins as executor of his estate. After Vernon died in 1979, Priscilla, a successor trustee, assumed the role of primary manager.
Despite the celebrated influence and global popularity of Elvis, who was estimated to have earned anywhere between $100 million to $1 billion, his estate was in shambles — worth only about $5 million. Graceland’s costly maintenance and massive IRS bills were fast depleting Lisa Marie’s inheritance.
The poor state of affairs was due in part to Elvis’ profligate spending. He was known to lavish Cadillacs and jewelry on friends, many of whom were also on his payroll. But his fortune’s wane was exacerbated by the abusive control that his longtime manager Col. Tom Parker exerted over his business affairs.
Elvis performing in Honolulu in 1973.
(Pål Grandlund)
The cigar-chomping Parker, who died in 1997, was a former carnival barker and a compulsive gambler. He wasn’t, however, a colonel — the Dutch-born “Parker’s” real name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk.
During his time as Elvis’ manager, Parker took commissions as high as 50%, and frequently cut deals that enriched himself at the rocker’s expense.
Four years before Elvis died, Parker sold off his back catalog to RCA for $5.4 million (with Parker taking $2.6 million and Elvis $2.8 million), depriving the estate of untold millions in royalties.
In 1981, the co-executors of Elvis’ estate (an attorney separately represented Lisa Marie), sued Parker for massive fraud and mismanagement, claiming he received the “lion’s share” of Elvis’ income, even after his death. The parties eventually reached an out-of-court settlement.
Reviving Graceland
But the years of profound missteps and mismanagement left Elvis’ estate facing the prospect of bankruptcy and worse, having to sell Graceland. Priscilla brought in a team of financial advisors and lawyers who engineered a stunning financial turnaround.
In 1981, the Elvis Presley Trust created Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. to conduct business and manage the trust’s assets, including Graceland, which was opened to the public the following year. Now a National Historic Landmark, the tourist shrine generates an estimated $10 million annually.
By the time Lisa Marie inherited her father’s estate upon her 25th birthday in 1993, the estate had rebounded. Two decades later, Graceland, along with the merchandising of Elvis’ image and managing his music royalties, was worth upward of $500 million.
Elvis on the grounds of his Graceland estate circa 1957.
(Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Then, in 2005, Elvis’ estate changed hands. Lisa Marie agreed to sell 85% of EPE’s assets, including her father’s likeness rights, to music entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman and his company CKX Inc. for $114 million.
Under the deal, Lisa Marie retained 15% of the trust and received $50 million in cash as well as $26 million in CKX common and preferred stock. She also retained sole ownership of Graceland and her father’s personal items. Priscilla received $6.5 million for the use of the family name, Fortune reported.
But in 2013, CKX Inc. sold its majority interest in the estate to the intellectual property firm Authenic Brands Group for a reported $145 million.
The problems that had long trailed the estate surfaced again five years later.
This time it was Lisa Marie who alleged she had been duped. Then 50 and in the middle of divorcing her fourth husband Michael Lockwood, the father of her twin girls, she sued her business manager Barry Siegel. She claimed that as a result of his “reckless and negligent mismanagement” the trust had dwindled to just $14,000 and was left with $500,000 in credit card debt.
Lisa Marie Presley in her childhood bedroom at Graceland in 2012.
(Lance Murphey/AP)
Siegel denied the allegations and countersued, claiming that she had “squandered” her fortune as a result of her “excessive spending.” At the time, court filings related to her divorce from Lockwood, revealed that she was $16.7 million in debt.
A mother, daughter feud
When Lisa Marie died suddenly in January 2023 at the age of 54, another tense legal battle erupted over the estate and the trust Lisa Marie had set up.
Within weeks of her death, Priscilla went to court to challenge an amendment that removed her as a trustee, making her granddaughter, the actress Riley Keough, sole trustee. Priscilla’s lawyers argued that the signature was “inconsistent” with Lisa Marie’s handwriting.
The matter was settled five months later. Keough was named sole trustee. In exchange for stepping down, Priscilla received a $1-million lump sum payment paid out of Lisa Marie’s $25-million life insurance policy and was made a special advisor for a trust relating to EPE, for which she would receive $100,000 annually for 10 years or until her death.
Priscilla was also granted permission to be buried in the Meditation Garden at Graceland near Elvis’ gravesite and to be given a memorial service on the property.
‘Dame’ Kruse
By spring 2023, as Priscilla resolved her dispute with her daughter’s estate, Kruse’s presence and influence in her personal and business affairs deepened.
When they met, Priscilla was in her mid-70s and her main source of income derived from her paid personal appearances. Kruse’s suit described Presley’s celebrity as “a mere shadow of what it once was, and her earning potential was only a fraction of what it previously was.”
Moreover, she claimed that Priscilla was 60 days away from financial disaster, and drowning under $700,000 in outstanding tax debts.
Then 39, Kruse was publicly portrayed as a success, active in the worlds of celebrity and philanthropy and who spoke multiple languages. She highlighted her advocacy for children with autism and AIDS research; donating money to related causes and delivering toys to orphans in global conflict zones with her husband, Vahe Sislyan.
On social media and in news releases, Kruse showcased her activities and accolades, posting images alongside various marquee names such as the pop star Gwen Stefani and President Trump and his wife Melania.
In 2016, seven years after Kruse and her husband founded GWS, she was the first female auctioneer to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records (for selling the largest abandoned world property). Kruse formally added the honorific title “Dame” to her name after a member of the royal Italian Medici family conferred the title of Cavaliere, a kind of knighthood, on her.
In media interviews, Kruse liked to say that the sale of Elvis’ “lost jet” had seared her reputation as the rocker’s memorabilia dealer. Over the years she was prolific, selling a number of his items, including the Smith & Wesson that he was said to have purchased in 1973 after he was attacked onstage in Las Vegas.
According to Priscilla, she first met Kruse in June 2021 after the auctioneer texted her saying she’d like to meet for lunch.
They dined at Gucci Osteria in Beverly Hills followed by numerous other get-togethers in Los Angeles. Kruse introduced her to her “business partner,” Kevin Fialko, “an investor, experienced businessman, and financial expert,” who “would help Kruse get my financial affairs in order,” according to a declaration submitted by Priscilla.
Dame Brigitte Kruse and Priscilla Presley at an event in Orlando in 2023.
(Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)
“When I first met Brigitte Kruse, she wanted to involve me in her auction business,” she wrote in her March declaration.
From there, Kruse “quickly immersed herself” in Priscilla’s life, “often sending her multiple text messages a day, and “telling her how much she loved her and admired her,” according to her elder abuse complaint. She also talked up her credentials, lineage and expertise in the auction business as well as her “connections to celebrities.”
In September 2021, Priscilla participated in one of GWS’ online auctions that featured a private lunch with her and Kruse, with a portion of the proceeds going to a charity. A number of Elvis items were also auctioned off, such as the white eyelet jumpsuit cape he wore during his 1972 performances at Madison Square Garden and a jar of his hair.
“She’s just such a wealth of experience and knowledge. You don’t study and learn about Elvis without learning about Priscilla as well. Their names are synonymous,” Kruse told People.
The following year, Kruse’s GWS conducted an online auction billed as “The Lost Jewelry Collection of Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker,” including watches, rings and cuff links that Elvis had bought or commissioned for his manager.
Although she didn’t own any of the items, Priscilla provided “letters of recollection” vouching for her personal historical memories of many of them, according to the auction’s online catalog notes.
“There is so much product out there that is not authentic at all and that worries me,” she said in a video with Reuters after viewing the collection. “I want to know for sure that that is going to go to someone who is going to care for it, love it.”
By January 2023, Priscilla and Kruse agreed to set up several companies to exploit Priscilla’s name and image and to bolster Kruse’s Elvis memorabilia auctions through Priscilla’s written “recollections.”
The terms of their agreement gave Kruse 51% and Presley 49% of Priscilla Presley Partners LLC, according to court filings.
Soon after, however, Priscilla alleged Kruse and Fialko “expanded the scope of their interest in my affairs, seeking to inject themselves into every area of my life.”
They gained her trust and isolated her from key advisors, setting the stage for “a meticulously planned and abhorrent scheme,” intended “to drain her of every last penny she had,” Presley alleged in her lawsuit.
Presley says that she was “fraudulently induced” to sign documents without the opportunity to review them in advance or “advised as to the nature of the paperwork.”
The contracts gave Kruse a controlling interest in her name, image and likeness in perpetuity. They also granted her power of attorney over Priscilla’s affairs and healthcare and named Kruse a trustee on her personal and family trusts, according to Priscilla’s declaration.
Along with Fialko, Kruse closed Priscilla’s bank accounts and opened new ones “in an effort to transfer the funds of Presley’s various personal, business and trust accounts.”
Priscilla claims she also signed a five-year lease on a house in Orlando, Fla., owned by Sislyan, that she never asked for or wanted.
Further, Priscilla alleges in a declaration that Kruse and Fialko leaned on Coppola to get a credit on the biopic and diverted $120,000 of money Presley earned from the film into their own accounts.
When Lisa Marie died, Priscilla contended that Kruse and Fialko improperly inserted themselves into her legal dispute over her daughter’s trust, she said in her complaint. They also had the “audacity” to demand that they were allowed “ to attend any memorial service for Presley in the future,” she added.
By August 2023, Priscilla severed ties with Kruse.
A lawyer representing Kruse and Fialko did not respond to a request for comment.
A few months later, Kruse, through Priscilla Presley Partners, sued for breach of contract, saying Priscilla asked Kruse to take over her business affairs, requiring her to “devote her attention full-time to managing Priscilla’s life” in order to “monetize various aspects of her [Presley’s] life.”
Kruse and Fialko maintained they worked tirelessly to keep Priscilla from “financial ruin and public embarrassment,” and that she fully understood the agreements she was signing.
Meanwhile, others began to question the authenticity around some of GWS’s Elvis sales.
When GWS held another online auction of Elvis memorabilia in January 2023 that included a one-of-a-kind grommet jacket that Elvis wore in 1972, it drew the attention of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
“We know there was only one made, and guess what? We have it in our archives,” Weinshanker, EPE’s managing partner, told NBC News, last July.
GWS said the claims were unsubstantiated: “GWS stands behind everything that it sells, and categorically denies tracking in fake or inauthentic items attributed to Elvis Presley, or otherwise.”
The tensions escalated last November, after GWS announced another “lost” collection auction of Elvis and Col. Parker memorabilia, comprising 400 items.
Priscilla Presley, her daughter Lisa Marie and grandaughters: Riley Keough, Harper Lockwood and Finley Lockwood at an event honoring the Presley family at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles in 2022.
(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The cache of documents included telegrams Elvis and Parker sent to Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and others, handwritten notes and Elvis’ signed 1956 contract with the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, included in the auction, that rang alarm bells.
The estate’s lawyers in December sent a cease and desist letter to GWS, claiming the listed auction items were the property of Graceland and demanded their immediate return. Nonetheless, GWS went forward with the sale, contending in a letter it had acted appropriately. , On Dec. 24, the estate sued GWS, Kruse and two others, claiming the items belonged to Graceland and were “improperly and illegally offered for sale at auction.” They sought to recover at least 74 “irreplaceable documents,” and alleged that the defendants were in “possession of perhaps thousands more such items.”
According to the suit, the allegedly “stolen” items were part of an enormous trove that the estate acquired from Parker in 1990 for $1.25 million. GWS has denied that it had engaged in “any wrongdoing whatsoever.”
Elvis’ estate alleges that a former Parker employee named Greg McDonald “took possession” of the documents that should have been turned over to Graceland after Parker died.
Instead, when McDonald died in 2024, his widow Sherry and son Thomas McDonald, who are named as defendants, “took possession of the Property and then delivered it to Brigitte Kruse for sale at GWS,” the lawsuit states.
The suit further asserted that Kruse was aware of the circumstances in which Greg McDonald obtained the items before putting them up for sale. In an email thread between Kruse and Graceland’s longtime archivist in 2021, included in the filings, Kruse wrote that she had a video of her in conversation with McDonald in which he “admits to knowing of the theft,” in regards to the documents.
Over 600,000 visitors go to Graceland each year, earning the estate an estimated $10 million annually.
(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
An attorney for Kruse disputed the claim, saying in a statement that when she had informed the Elvis estate of the existence of McDonald’s collection in 2021, “they did not make a claim to Mr. McDonald alleging that the collection was not rightfully his.”
GWS “never maintained care, custody or control of any of the items” that were auctioned,” the statement read. “We will continue to respect the judicial process and the outcome of the ongoing litigation.”
In a statement to The Times on behalf of himself and his mother, Thomas McDonald said: “The property in which Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises are asserting ownership has been in my family’s possession for over forty years as gifts from the Colonel. I am committed to resolving this dispute and vindicating my family’s rights as expediently and fairly as possible.”
Lawyers for EPE and Graceland Holdings did not respond to a request for comment.
As the various lawsuits were unfolding, last April, GWS Auctions was suspended by the Franchise Tax board in California, effectively losing its standing to operate legally due to noncompliance with tax requirements.
In court filings, Kruse and her co-defendants are cited as saying that GWS is “defunct.” However, GWS’ website remains active and currently lists the results of its most recent auction: the Artifacts of Hollywood and Music sale held on June 7 (that included the racing helmet Elvis wore in “Viva Las Vegas,” that sold for $6,500).
Last month, Elvis’ former wife scored a legal win when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a motion by Kruse and her business associates to temporarily put a hold on the elder abuse lawsuit in an effort to move the litigation to Florida.
In his ruling, Judge Mark H. Epstein expressed frustration with the defendants’ “never-ending series of motions,” underscoring that this was not a a contract-based case. Presley “is suing these defendants for fraud and elder abuse, an aspect of which was allegedly bamboozling her into signing those agreements in the first place.”
The ongoing clash with Kruse has left Priscilla “devastated,” said her attorney, Wayne Harman. “We look forward to the court holding defendants fully accountable for their actions,” he said in a statement.
Amid the fallout with Kruse, the estate faced another controversy.
A mysterious company, Naussany Investments & Private Lending, presented documents claiming that Lisa Marie had borrowed $3.8 million and put up Graceland as collateral but had failed to repay the loan before she died.
But it was an elaborate scam, according to federal authorities, who in August arrested a Missouri woman, Lisa Jeanine Findley, alleging she used fake documents to “steal the family’s ownership interest in Graceland” and attemped to put it up for sale.
In February, Findley pleaded guilty to mail fraud for her role in the scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced this week. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
