A woman posed as 3 people in a plot to auction off Elvis Presley’s Graceland

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, falsely claimed that Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus private lender and pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before her death them last year, prosecutors said. She then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder unless Presley’s family paid a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities.

Finley impersonated three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the Graceland auction in May, prosecutors said. A judge halted the sale after Presley’s niece sued.

Experts were baffled by an attempt to sell one of the country’s oldest estates using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected to be fake.

Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The announcement of the charges came on the 47th anniversary of Presley’s death at age 42.

“Miss. It is alleged that Findley took advantage of the very public and tragic events in the Presley family as an opportunity to blast the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her own personal gain.” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of the US Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group.

An attorney for Findley, who used several aliases, was not listed in court documents. A voicemail left with a phone number believed to be associated with Findley was not immediately returned, nor was an email sent to an address prosecutors say she used in the scheme.

She is charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. The mail fraud charge carries up to 20 years in prison. She remained in custody after a brief appearance in federal court in Missouri, according to court documents.

In May, a public notice of the foreclosure sale of the 13-acre (5-hectare) property said the Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after defaulting on a loan since 2018. Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter and actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year. An attorney for Keough did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday.

Keough filed a lawsuit alleging fraud, and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Naussany Investments and Private Lending — the bogus lenders now say Findley created — said Lisa Marie Presley used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure notice. Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany submitted fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary public whose name appears on Naussany’s documents, indicated that she never met Lisa Marie Presley or notarized any documents for her, according to the probate lawsuit. The judge said the notary’s statement called into question the “authenticity of the signature”.

In May, a judge halted the foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s estate could succeed in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction off Graceland was fraudulent.

The Tennessee attorney general’s office investigated the Graceland controversy, then confirmed in June that it had turned the investigation over to federal authorities.

A statement emailed to The Associated Press after the judge halted the sale said Naussany would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in another state, meaning “legal action would must be filed in several states. ” The statement, sent from an email address listed in court documents, did not specify the other state.

After the scheme collapsed, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said. An email sent to the AP on May 25 from the same email as the previous statement said in Spanish that the attempted foreclosure was done by a Nigerian fraud group that targets the elderly and the dead in the U.S. and uses the Internet to steal money .

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