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Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Denise Richards’ husband, Aaron Phypers, was hit with a lawsuit accusing him of fraud, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, a man named Rupert Perry, as trustee of the estate of Elina Katsioula-Beall, filed suit against Aaron aka Aaron Cameron, 52.
The suit, filed on November 13, 2024, accuses Aaron of breach of oral contract and fraud/false promise.
In the filing, Rupert explained that he runs Elina’s estate. He said Elina, “was an award-winning art director for stage and television, whose work included the stage design for the Academy Awards and concerts for Janet Jackson, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, and Madonna. [Elina] also owned and operated a successful kitchen design business.”
Rupert said he met Elina in 2012, and they wed in 2014. In 2019, Elina was diagnosed with sarcoma cancer. The lawsuit read, “After trying many standard treatments, none of which worked, [Elina] became interested in alternative treatments for her illness, including stem cell treatments.”
In June 2023, Rupert claims they met with Aaron, “who owned and operated a wellness center in Malibu.”
The suit said Aaron told Elina and Rupert about a stem cell treatment for her cancer that “he said would cure or at least ameliorate [Elina’s] condition.”
“[Aaron] claimed that the treatment had a 98 percent success rate and he was so confident in it that, if it did not work, he would refund to [Elina] and [Rupert] fifty percent (of the money they [paid] to him for the treatment,” the suit read.
The suit continued, “Having nothing to lose, and believing [Aaron] to be an honest individual who would reimburse them 50 [percent] of their money if the treatment did not work, [Elina] and Mr. [Rupert] paid [Aaron] $126,000.”
Rupert said Elina received several stem cell treatments arranged by Aaron from July through September 2023. Despite the treatments, the suit claimed, “the treatments did not work, and in December 2023, [Elina] had an MRI that showed her tumors had grown 25 percent in the preceding three months.”
On December 18, 2023, Rupert said Elina wrote Aaron and informed him of the news.
She requested that Aaron refund her 50 percent of the money she paid — i.e., $63,000. Rupert said Aaron ignored Elina’s request and instead proposed that Elina undergo another round of treatment.
In February 2024, Elina again wrote Aaron and requested “that he honor their agreement and refund to her $63,000.” The suit said Aaron again ignored her request.
On March 7, 2024, Rupert claims Aaron sent a text message to a third party in which he acknowledged the debt to Elina and Rupert and gave “his word” to pay it.
On March 29, 2024, “as she was dying from cancer, [Elina] sent another email to [Aaron] along with an invoice for $63,000 and a request for payment in a timely manner.”
Aaron ignored the request, per the lawsuit. Elina died on May 21. Rupert said he spoke to Aaron by telephone on June 28, 2024. He said Aaron admitted to owing the money but “proffered a series of excuses for his failure to pay the $63,000.”
The suit read, “Defendant’s aforementioned misconduct was intentional, willful, and done for the purpose of depriving Plaintiff of property and/or legal rights or otherwise causing injury. despicable conduct subjected Plaintiff to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of his rights, so as to justify an award of exemplary and punitive damages in an amount appropriate to punish or make an example of Defendant, and to deter such conduct in the future, the exact amount of such damages subject to proof at the time of trial.”
Rupert demanded unspecified general damages on top of punitive damages. Aaron has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
A source close to Aaron disputed the claims. The source told In Touch that Aaron believes the company the provided the service is the one that would be providing the refund.
The insider told In Touch that Aaron has been attempting to get in contact with the CEO of the company for several months to help Rupert get a portion refunded “because he felt bad.”
The source close to Aaron told In Touch that Aaron was simply the middleman who provided a space for the procedure to take place. The source said that the CEO of the company was the one who promised the refund NOT Aaron.
As In Touch first reported, last year, Aaron was hit with a six-figure judgment over his wellness center business in a separate lawsuit over an alleged debt.
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