A Missouri girl has been arrested on fees she orchestrated a brazen scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s household by attempting to public sale off his Graceland mansion and property earlier than a decide halted the mysterious foreclosures sale, the Justice Division stated Friday.
Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling Metropolis, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus non-public lender and had pledged Graceland as collateral for the mortgage earlier than her loss of life final yr, prosecutors stated. She then threatened to promote Graceland to the upper bidder if Presley’s household didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, based on authorities.
Finley posed as three completely different individuals allegedly concerned with the faux lender, fabricated mortgage paperwork, and printed a fraudulent foreclosures discover in a Memphis newspaper asserting the public sale of Graceland in Might, prosecutors stated. A decide stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.
Consultants have been baffled by the try to unload some of the storied items of actual property within the nation utilizing names, emails and paperwork that have been shortly suspected to be phony.
Graceland opened as a museum and vacationer attraction in 1982 and attracts a whole lot of hundreds of holiday makers every year. A big Presley-themed leisure advanced throughout the road from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The announcement of fees got here on the forty seventh anniversary of Presley’s loss of life on the age of 42.
“Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain,” stated Eric Shen, inspector in control of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Prison Investigations Group.
An lawyer for Findley, who used a number of aliases, was not listed in courtroom paperwork. A voicemail left with a telephone quantity believed to be related to Findley was not instantly returned, nor was an e-mail despatched to an deal with prosecutors say she had used within the scheme.
She’s charged with mail fraud and aggravated id theft. The mail fraud cost carries as much as 20 years in jail. She remained in custody after a quick federal courtroom look in Missouri, based on courtroom papers.
In Might, a public discover for a foreclosures sale of the 13-acre (5-hectare) property stated Promenade Belief, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 mortgage. Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter and an actor, inherited the belief and possession of the house after the loss of life of her mom, Lisa Marie Presley, final yr. An lawyer for Keough didn’t instantly reply to a message looking for touch upon Friday.
Keough filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, and a decide halted the proposed public sale with an injunction. Naussany Investments and Non-public Lending — the bogus lender authorities now say Findley created — stated Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the mortgage, based on the foreclosures sale discover. Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany introduced fraudulent paperwork relating to the mortgage in September 2023 and that Lisa Maria Presley by no means borrowed cash from Naussany.
Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose title is listed on Naussany’s paperwork, indicated she by no means met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any paperwork for her, based on the property’s lawsuit. The decide stated the notary’s affidavit brings into query “the authenticity of the signature.”
The decide in Might halted the foreclosures sale of the beloved Memphis vacationer attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s property might be profitable in arguing that an organization’s try to public sale Graceland was fraudulent.
The Tennessee lawyer common’s workplace had been investigating the Graceland controversy, then confirmed in June that it handed the probe over to federal authorities.
A press release emailed to The Related Press after the decide stopped the sale stated Naussany wouldn’t proceed as a result of a key doc within the case and the mortgage have been recorded and obtained in a special state, which means “legal action would have to be filed in multiple states.” The assertion, despatched from an e-mail deal with listed in courtroom paperwork, didn’t specify the opposite state.
After the scheme fell aside, Findley tried to make it appear like the individual accountable was a Nigerian id thief, prosecutors stated. An e-mail despatched Might 25 to the AP from the identical e-mail as the sooner assertion stated in Spanish that the foreclosures sale try was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets outdated and lifeless individuals within the U.S. and makes use of the Web to steal cash.
