A Missouri woman has been arrested for allegedly trying to defraud Elvis Presley's family and steal their ownership interest in Graceland, the US Department of Justice announced on Friday (August 16th).
The 53-year-old woman, whose name is Lisa Jeanine Findley but goes by several aliases, has been charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the first count and a mandatory minimum of two years for the latter. made an initial court appearance in Missouri on Friday.
“As alleged in the complaint, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland by falsely claiming that Elvis Presley's daughter had pledged the historic landmark as collateral for a loan she failed to repay before her death,” he said. the Principal Deputy Assistant. Attorney General Nicole M. Argentierihead of the criminal division of the Ministry of Justice, in a statement. “As part of his brazen scheme, we allege the defendant created numerous false documents and attempted to extort a settlement from the Presley family. He now faces federal charges. The Criminal Division and its partners are committed to holding the fraudsters accountable.”
According to documents filed in US District Court in Tennessee on Thursday (August 15), Findley allegedly posed as three different people associated with a company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending claiming that Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley , had used the famous Memphis. mansion as collateral to secure a $3.8 million loan he failed to repay. He also allegedly fabricated loan documents and forged the signatures of Lisa Marie and a notary public to file a false creditor's claim in California Superior Court in Los Angeles and a false deed of trust in the Shelby County Register's office in Memphis. The Justice Department also alleges that Findley published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in the Memphis Daily The commercial appeal announcing that Naussany Investments will auction Graceland on May 23.
The auction attempt was quickly blocked after Presley's granddaughter and Lisa Marie's daughter Riley Keough – who took over as trustee of the Promenade Trust, the entity that controls Graceland, after Lisa Marie's death in January 2023 – won a court order for its suspension. Shortly thereafter, Findley reportedly wrote to representatives of the Presley family, the Tennessee state court and the media to falsely claim that the person responsible for the fraud was an identity thief based in Nigeria.
“Fame and money are magnets for criminals who want to take advantage of another person's celebrity,” he said. Eric Sheninspector in charge of the US Postal Inspection Service's (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Team, in a statement. “In this case, Ms. Findlay allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic events in the Presley family as an opportunity to rob the Graceland estate heirs of their name and financial status, attempting to steal what is rightfully the Presleys. family for personal gain. Postal inspectors and law enforcement partners put an end to her alleged scheme, protecting the Presley family from continued harm and stress.”
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