Kathy Ireland Believes Ex-Business Partners Are Dodging Lawsuit

Kathy Ireland says her longtime business managers are dodging her lawsuit ... and she's asking a judge to let her serve them documents via local California newspapers.

The model filed a new motion Thursday ... in which she claims her former money managers have gone on the lam ... alleging some have abandoned residences and left no forwarding address while she says others have dodged process servers.

Ireland says her former biz managers changed their business addresses to a virtual mailbox ... and adds their publicly identified lawyer says he doesn't actually represent them.

She's asking a judge to let her serve the lawsuit through the local newspapers of the area where she believes the defendants live and work -- The Los Angeles Times and The Desert Sun -- the latter of which publishes local news for the Coachella Valley, about 2 hours east of L.A.

As we told you ... Ireland is suing her former business managers ... claiming they misused her money, deceived her about her wealth, and even took loans out in her name.

KI claims the misuse of her money has cheated her and her husband, Dr. Greg Olsen, out of their home equity, drained their retirement savings and even forced them to sell their home.