Ursula Andress, who is best known for being the original Bond girl, is speaking out to claim that she lost £16 million ($21.3 million) of her fortune to her “ruthless” former manager, Eric Freymond.
Andress Allegedly Targeted And ‘Exploited’
Andress, 90, told the German news outlet Blick that she has been left “devastated” by what Freymond allegedly did do her. According to Andress, Freymond intentionally targeted her.
“For eight years, I was courted and wooed,” she lamented. “They lied to me ruthlessly and exploited my goodwill and trust in a perfidious, even criminal, way to take everything from me.”
“And they were counting on my age,” she added. “I’m so devastated.”
Andress went on to say that in the wake of this massive financial loss, she can’t sleep. She’s also been left with debilitating anxiety.
“This feeling of helplessness is unbearable, it’s killing me,” Andress said.
Andress has an estimated net worth of £18 million ($24 million). She alleges that Freymond transferred her fortune from Lombard Odier bank to an account held by the Vaud Notaries’ Association at Saanenbank.
On top of that Andress believes that Freymond bought millions of dollars-worth of artwork belonging to his wife, Caroline with the actress’ money. According to Andress, he did this without her knowledge or consent.
Freymond was previously accused of embezzling money from the fortune of Hermès heir Nicolas Puech. He was interrogated about this in Paris, France in July of 2025. At the time, he confessed to some of the allegations being made against him. Just two weeks later, however, Freymond took his own life.
Andress Fights Back
In January of this year, Andress filed a criminal complaint about this situation. Indeed, she used it to accuse Freymond of embezzlement, among other things.
“As part of a fraud scheme of exceptional scale and complexity, involving numerous actors and structures, she was deprived of a large portion of her assets, resulting in significant damage,” Andress’ management team said in a statement at the time.
“Out of consideration for the ongoing proceedings, Ms Andress does not wish to make any further comments at this time,” the statement continued. “The Vaud cantonal judicial authorities have been tasked with fully investigating the manipulations and clarifying criminal and civil liability.”
Andress later doubled down on this in a statement of her own. She explained that she had saved her money for “a happy and peaceful retirement.”
“I’ve been disgustingly cheated!” Andress exclaimed. “I hope the perpetrators are punished to the full extent of the law.”
Andress’ History
Born in Switzerland in 1936, Andress achieved international superstardom when she became the very first Bond girl. Indeed, she starred as Honey Rider in 1962’s Dr. No, the first James Bond movie. The image of Andress emerging from the water in a skimpy white bikini continues to be one of the most famous Bond scenes to this day.
A successful film career followed for Andress that spanned decades. She starred in the 1967 James Bond parody film Casino Royale. Other movie credits of Andress’ include 4 for Texas (1963), The Blue Max (1966), Perfect Friday (1970), The Fifth Musketeer (1979) and Clash of the Titans (1981).
Andress’ final film role came in 2005, when she appeared in the Swiss movie The Bird Preachers.
In her personal life, Andress was married to the actor John Derek from 1957 until they divorced in 1966. Though she has never married again, Andress shares a 45 year-old son Dimitri with her Clash of the Titans co-star Harry Hamlin, who she dated for four years.
It’s always incredibly difficult to see an elderly person find themselves being targeted by a financial scam. Please join us in saying a prayer for Andress as she continues her fight to get as much of her fortune back as she can.