A nightclub boss accused of conning her lover out of £4m has been found dead at her London home.
Magdalena Zalinska, 44, was being sued in the High Court by the brother of Danny Truell over claims she obtained the money by “undue influence” before he died of a neurological condition in 2019.
However, Ms Zalinaka’s body was discovered by police on Saturday who broke down her door in Clapham, south London, after neighbours raised the alarm, reported the Daily Mail.
The death is not being treated as suspicious.
The divorced mother-of-two was at the centre of a legal fight with the family of millionaire former banker Mr Truell.
Mr Truell, a highly successful fund manager, had “considerable personal wealth,” the High Court has previously heard, but lived a frugal lifestyle at his flat near Clapham Junction.
He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012 and was left needing home care from 2017 onwards before his death in 2019.
Ms Zalinska had insisted that she and Mr Truell started a romantic loving relationship from around 2004.
But his family had rejected that characterisation of the relationship, referring to her pejoratively as a “call girl”.
They claimed she was Mr Truell’s employed carer from 2012 and that they were not living together.
The High Court battle was over alleged transfers made to Ms Zalinska before Mr Truell died.
Around the alleged payments were £1.34 million between November 2013 and September 2018 to a company used to operate a nightclub in Southwark and some £915,000 in bank transfers to her from Mr Truell between June 2012 and September 2019.
Family had claimed around another £416,000 in debit card spending was “suspect” and had increased as Mr Truell’s health worsened.
Ms Zalinska had strongly denied the claims.
In a hearing earlier this year, Mr Justice Michael Green said Ms Zalinska was “rightly, in my view, offended by any suggestion that she was not in a deep and loving relationship with the deceased, or that she had taken advantage of him”.
A full trial on the £4m undue influence claim had been due next year.
Speaking to the Mail, Ms Zalinska’s former husband Wojtek Zalinski confirmed her death and said he was flying from his home in Poland to help determine what happened to her.
A Met spokesperson told the paper: “Officers forced entry and found a 46-year-old woman deceased. Her next of kin have been informed.
“The death is being treated as unexpected, though initial enquiries determined it was not suspicious.”
