According to the Justice Department, a woman from Missouri has been arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud Elvis Presley's family by falsely claiming that his daughter had borrowed money and used Graceland as collateral for a loan. The woman, identified as Lisa Jeanine Findley from Kimberling City, is accused of posing as multiple individuals associated with a fake lender, creating fake loan documents, and trying to extort money from Presley's family. She also allegedly published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auctioning of Graceland. The landmark property, which has been a popular museum and tourist destination since 1982, is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The charges against Findley were announced on the anniversary of Presley's death. Postal Inspector Eric Shen described the scheme as taking advantage of the Presley family's name and financial situation for personal gain. Findley's attorney was not specified in court documents, and attempts to reach her via phone and email were unsuccessful. Experts expressed confusion over the attempt to sell such a renowned property using suspicious names, emails, and documents.In May, a public notice was issued for the foreclosure sale of a 13-acre (5-hectare) estate owned by Promenade Trust, which oversees the Graceland museum. The trust had accumulated a debt of $3.8 million due to a 2018 loan default. Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley and an actress, inherited the trust and home ownership following the passing of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year. Keough filed a lawsuit alleging fraud, prompting a judge to issue an injunction to halt the scheduled auction.
According to the foreclosure notice, Naussany Investments and Private Lending claimed that Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan. However, Keough's lawsuit disputed this, asserting that Naussany had presented fake documents related to the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Marie never borrowed money from them. In the estate's lawsuit, Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name appeared on Naussany's documents, stated that she had never met Lisa Marie Presley or notarized any documents for her, raising doubts about the validity of the signature.
The judge prevented the foreclosure sale of the iconic Memphis tourist site in May, expressing the possibility of Elvis Presley's estate successfully arguing that the auction was fraudulent. The Tennessee attorney general's office launched an investigation into the Graceland dispute, subsequently passing it to federal authorities in June. Naussany announced via email that they would not proceed with legal action due to key documents being recorded in a different state, necessitating legal proceedings in multiple states. The email also suggested that a Nigerian fraud group targeting elderly and deceased individuals had instigated the foreclosure sale attempt.The individual in the United States uses the Internet as a means to commit theft of money.
