Kirstie Alley and her former business partner have been named in a lawsuit that alleges they accepted a “fraudulent” transfer of funds during the time they ran their company, Organic Liaison.
Alley and Michelle Seward are being sued by Jeffrey and Marguerite Stabile, who say they gave Seward around $500,000, and “that the funds the trust received are related to a premium financed life insurance transaction organized by the defendant and collateralized by $1,000,000 of investor funds.” Seward later told the Stabiles that she had “lost control of the funds,” and now they say that Kirstie Alley “either actually knew, constructively knew, or should have known that the investment of $1 million, and the transfer of $400,000 into her trust… was illegal, fraudulent and otherwise improper, and at the expense of persons such as the plaintiffs and those similarly situated.”
Alley and Seward are reportedly due in court next month when the case goes to trial, and both are expected to testify.
This isn’t the first time Kirstie has been called to court over her former business, which she sold to Jenny Craig in 2013; that same year, Organic Liaison customer Marina Abramyan sued Alley over claims the actress made regarding her product — namely, that it was solely responsible for her 100-pound weight loss — and won $130,000 in court.
Abramyan alleged that Alley didn’t credit her turn on Dancing with the Stars for part of her weight loss.
Kirstie Alley lost quite a bit of weight last year and said in January that she’d used Jenny Craig to do it, as the program had worked for her in the past. Alley set a goal of 30 pounds but ended up losing 50, in part because she made a point to stick to her workout regimen.
“I got a yellow townie bike and I ride over to friends’ houses. I bribe people. I’ll say, let’s ride to this restaurant and I’ll pay for dinner. And believe me: If I bike four miles to a restaurant, I don’t wreck it with my order!” Alley told People .
Alley also said during the interview that she’s trying to maintain an air of fun with her exercise routine this time around in order to keep the weight off, and says she wants to get back to the mindset that she’s an athlete after being a competitive swimmer for many years.
[Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images]
