A woman has been arrested on charges she orchestrated a scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property, before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale, the US justice department said on Friday.
Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, Missouri, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed 3.8 million dollars (£2.9 million) from a bogus private lender and pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan.
She fabricated loan documents, tried extort Presley’s family out of 2.85 million dollars (£2.2 million) to settle the matter, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing that Graceland would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, prosecutors said.
Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.
The announcement of charges came on the 47th anniversary of Presley’s death at 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,” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of the US Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group.
In May, a public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes 3.8 million dollars after failing to repay a 2018 loan.
Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter and an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.
Keough filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction.
Naussany Investments and Private Lending said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice.
Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.
Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents, indicated she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarised any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit.
A judge, said the notary’s affidavit brings into question “the authenticity of the signature”.
A judge in May halted the foreclosure sale of the Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.
The Tennessee attorney general’s office had been investigating the Graceland controversy, then confirmed in June that it handed the probe over to federal authorities.
A statement emailed to The Associated Press after the judge stopped the sale said Naussany would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in a different state, meaning “legal action would have to be filed in multiple states”.
The statement, sent from an email address listed in court documents, did not specify the other state.
An email sent May 25 to the AP from the same address said in Spanish that the foreclosure sale attempt was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets old and dead people in the US and uses the internet to steal money.
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