A woman with cancer paid $126K for a treatment that failed. She died still waiting for her refund. Now her husband took Aaron Phypers to court — and won.
Denise Richards‘ estranged husband Aaron Phypers just lost a court battle he apparently didn’t even bother showing up for.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge handed down a default judgment of roughly $160,000 against him — and yeah, the backstory is way darker than the headline.
Here’s the thing — this isn’t some random financial dispute. A widower named Rupert Perry filed this lawsuit back in November 2024 after losing his wife, Elina Katsioula-Beall, to sarcoma cancer in May 2024. Elina was desperate. Her normal cancer treatments weren’t working. So in June 2023, she walked into Aaron’s wellness center looking for a miracle.
Aaron — according to the lawsuit — allegedly told her his center offered a stem cell treatment that could cure her cancer. Or at minimum, make things better. He allegedly threw out a 98% success rate. Promised a 50% refund if it didn’t work. She spent $126K. It didn’t work. She asked for her $63K back. He gave her the runaround. Then she died.
Not gonna lie — that’s not just a lawsuit. That’s a husband watching his wife spend her last months chasing a refund that never came.
Aaron’s people are saying his wellness center was just the middleman — that he wasn’t personally on the hook for the refund. But that argument didn’t stop a judge from stamping a $160K default judgment directly against him. Not the center. Him.
That’s the thing about default judgments — when you don’t respond, the court doesn’t wait around.
And yeah… this isn’t even Aaron’s only legal mess right now. TMZ previously reported that his estranged wife Denise Richards — the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum — was granted a permanent restraining order against him after accusing him of domestic violence during their marriage. That case is still playing out in court.
So the guy is fighting battles on multiple fronts. One involving a grieving widower. One involving his famous ex-wife. Both ugly.
Look, I’ll be real — the “we were just the middleman” defense might fly in some boardroom, but it doesn’t hold up when a dying cancer patient is chasing a refund you allegedly promised her and never sent. A judge agreed. The $160K judgment isn’t just a number — it’s the court saying someone has to be accountable here. And right now, that someone is Aaron Phypers.
The real question is whether he actually pays it — or finds another way to drag this out.
