Elvis Presley's family targeted in massive fraud scheme by Missouri woman, feds say
A woman was arrested on Friday for her alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud Elvis Presley's family and steal ownership of the rock star's Graceland estate, officials said in a news release.
Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, faces federal charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, and is expected to make her first court appearance in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri later Friday.
According to the complaint, Findley used a variety of names and pretended to be three different people affiliated with a fake private lender called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC. Through the fake lender, Findley falsely claimed to lawyers representing Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough that her mother had borrowed $3.8 million and pledged Graceland as collateral, and failed to repay the loan before her death last year.
As part of the scheme, Findley allegedly forged the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley and a Florida notary public on fake loan documents. Findley also allegedly filed a false creditor's claim with California authorities and filed a fake deed of trust with the Shelby County Register's Office in Memphis, where Graceland is.
Findley allegedly sought $2.85 million from the Presley family to settle the false claim. She also allegedly posted a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis daily newsletter, saying that the fake investment firm was planning to auction Graceland in May. Keough began proceedings to fight the foreclosure, saying at the time that the documents appeared to be false. An injunction was issued against the foreclosure later that month.
Findley also submitted false court filings when the Presley family sued her in Tennessee state court to stop the sale of the estate.
Finally, Findley falsely told media, Tennessee state court officials and the Presley family that the scheme had actually been carried out by a Nigerian identity thief.
If convicted, Findley faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for mail fraud.
"As a Memphian, I know that Graceland is a national treasure," said U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee in a news release announcing the charges against Findley. "This defendant allegedly used a brazen scheme to try to defraud the Presley family of their interest in this singularly important landmark."
In 1957, Elvis bought Graceland, named after an aunt of one of the original owners, for $102,500. Elvis died on the property in 1977, and was later buried there. The estate was named to the American National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Lisa Marie Presley and her son Benjamin Keough are also buried on the estate, along with Presley's parents and paternal grandmother.