A Missouri woman has been arrested on charges that 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 $3.8m from a bogus private lender and pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan. She fabricated loan documents, tried to extort Presley’s family out of $2.85m 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.
“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’s criminal investigations group.
The Associated Press was unable to reach Findley, who used multiple aliases, or a legal representative for comment.
In May, a public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owed $3.8m 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 sued, claiming fraud, and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Naussany Investments & 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 Investments presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from the lending company.
A judge in May halted the foreclosure sale of the beloved Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.
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The Tennessee attorney general’s office had been investigating the Graceland controversy, then confirmed in June that it handed the investigation over to federal authorities.