Film actress Gabor sues daughter

Gabor [pictured in 1989] and her husband are fighting the case

Film actress Zsa Zsa Gabor has taken her only daughter to court in Los Angeles amid claims that she defrauded her of $2m (£1.1m) to buy a new house.

The 88-year-old former beauty queen and her ninth husband said Francesca Hilton took out a loan on the couple's mansion and purchased her own property.

But the judge refused to freeze the assets on Ms Hilton's home, as there was "no evidence" she intended to sell.

Ms Hilton denied the claims, saying Gabor sanctioned the refinancing.

"Ultimately, what appears to be at issue is not the property, but the money used to purchase the property," said Judge Jacqueline Connor.

Emotional distress

Ms Hilton added that her mother asked her to arrange a $3.75m (£2m) loan to be taken out on her Beverley Hills mansion, worth $14m (£7.7m), and said she possesses documents to prove this.

She also said that Gabor gave her the disputed house "free and clear" in 1998, which she had been living in since 1982.

Ms Hilton's lawyer Ronald Richards said some of the loan money had been sent to New York to be invested for Gabor's benefit, and she would pay it back.

He said there "wasn't enough evidence at this stage in the case" to justify a freezing of the property.

The Hungarian-born star and her hotel tycoon husband Frederick Prinz von Anhalt contested that Ms Hilton committed elder abuse, fraud and emotional distress.

Gabor's husband claims that his step-daughter manipulated her mother to gain access to her will in March, and was worried that she would not be left anything.

Gabor, who has been paralysed since being involved in a car accident three years ago, is said to be in poor mental health.

The actress' home, overlooking the Los Angeles skyline, was once owned by Elvis Presley.