FILE PHOTO: Graceland, Elvis Presley’s residence, is seen, Jan. 7, 2011, in Memphis, Tennessee. (Related Press Picture/Mark Humphrey, File)
WASHINGTON — A Missouri girl has been arrested on expenses 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 choose 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 personal 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, in accordance with authorities.
Finley posed as three completely different individuals allegedly concerned with the pretend lender, fabricated mortgage paperwork, and revealed a fraudulent foreclosures discover in a Memphis newspaper saying the public sale of Graceland in Might, prosecutors stated. A choose stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.
Specialists have been baffled by the try and unload one of the vital storied items of actual property within the nation utilizing names, emails and paperwork that have been rapidly suspected to be phony.
READ: Elvis Presley followers make pilgrimage to his gravesite at Graceland
Graceland opened as a museum and vacationer attraction in 1982 and attracts tons of of hundreds of holiday makers annually. A big Presley-themed leisure complicated throughout the road from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The announcement of expenses got here on the forty seventh anniversary of Presley’s loss of life on the age of 42.
“Ms. Findley allegedly took benefit of the very public and tragic occurrences within the Presley household as a possibility to prey on the title and monetary standing of the heirs to the Graceland property, making an attempt to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley household for her private acquire,” stated Eric Shen, inspector in command of the US Postal Inspection Service Legal 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 electronic mail despatched to an handle prosecutors say she had used within the scheme.
She’s charged with mail fraud and aggravated identification 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, in accordance with 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.
READ: Graceland memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Preseley
FILE PHOTO: This 1972 file picture exhibits Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, throughout a efficiency. A launch occasion marking the discharge of an album of gospel songs by Presley is among the many highlights of 2018’s Elvis Week in Memphis, Tennessee. (Related Press Picture/File)
Keough filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, and a choose halted the proposed public sale with an injunction. Naussany Investments and Personal Lending — the bogus lender authorities now say Findley created — stated Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the mortgage, in accordance with the foreclosures sale discover. Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany offered 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, in accordance with the property’s lawsuit. The choose stated the notary’s affidavit brings into query “the authenticity of the signature.”
The choose in Might halted the foreclosures sale of the beloved Memphis vacationer attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s property could possibly be profitable in arguing that an organization’s try and 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.
An announcement emailed to The Related Press after the choose 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 distinct state, which means “authorized motion must be filed in a number of states.” The assertion, despatched from an electronic mail handle listed in courtroom paperwork, didn’t specify the opposite state.
After the scheme fell aside, Findley tried to make it seem like the individual accountable was a Nigerian identification thief, prosecutors stated. An electronic mail despatched Might 25 to the AP from the identical electronic mail as the sooner assertion stated in Spanish that the foreclosures sale try was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets previous and lifeless individuals within the U.S. and makes use of the Web to steal cash.