Jilted Billionaire Can't Use LA Court to Get his Ring Back, Judge Rules

Hollywood, CA --A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Skype's co- founder seeking the return of a $471,000 ring and other property he gave his ex- girlfriend in the expectation that they would wed, ruling the ex-couple's native Denmark was a more suitable forum.

The five-page final decision issued Tuesday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deirdre Hill reverses her tentative June 29 ruling in which she said she was inclined to allow Janus Friis to pursue his case in California against Aura Dione.

Lawyers for Dione, a Danish singer, argued the case should be dismissed in California and refiled in Denmark because the ring is located there and neither she nor Friis live in the Golden State. Dione resides in Denmark and Friis in the United Kingdom.

Friis' suit, filed last Aug. 27, alleges that after he found out that Dione was cheating on him, he demanded the return of the engagement ring, designer clothes, a $6,000 handbag and other pricey items, most of which he says were bought in California.

The couple's engagement ended when Friis learned "of Aura's many indiscretions and her pattern of deceit, which took place, for the most part, in California," according to his court papers.

The 31-year-old singer's real name is Maria Louise Joensen. Friis, now 40, proposed while the couple was flying from London to Denmark in his private jet in August 2013, according to Dione. She says she returned permanently to Denmark last August.

Attorney Gregory L. Smith, on behalf of Dione, said in court in June that his client has not lived in the U.S. for 1 1/2 years. He described Friis as a "disgruntled boyfriend who is trying to make life as miserable as possible" for Dione.

In her ruling, Hill cited both private and public-interest factors in finding that the case does not belong in California. The judge said Dione came to California in February 2013 on a visa and lived in a Hollywood home through 2014 and that Friis paid the rent. But since the filing of the lawsuit, Dione has tried to change her residency to Denmark and obtained a new passport from that country in November, Hill said.

Friis' attorneys maintained that most of the witnesses needed for a trial reside in California. But the judge found that "with respect to witnesses, it appears that there are witnesses in both California and Denmark, such that neither place is more convenient that the other with respect to witness testimony."

Hill also found that the pretrial exchanges of information between the parties is likely to flow more smoothly in Denmark.

As far as the public-interest factors, Hill said the California courts already are overburdened and that potential jurors should not have to "decide issues in which the local community has little concern."

Hill wrote that both Friis and Dione are "international travelers" and noted the businessman acknowledged he only spent 53 days here during 2013-14.

"He also admits that they agreed to be married before (Dione) moved to Los Angeles, and the engagement ring was not presented to (her) in this state," Hill wrote.

Although Dione lived in California during part of the time she was romantically involved with Friis, that factor is not enough to keep the case here, Hill said.

"It is difficult to see why local jurors would want to get involved in a dispute over a ring and other gifts that ... were exchanged between people who no longer reside her," Hill wrote.

Friis and Niklas Zennstrom co-founded Skype and sold it to eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005. The Skype application provides video chat and voice call services.

City News Service