A Missouri lady has been arrested for allegedly trying to defraud the household of Elvis Presley and steal their possession curiosity in Graceland, the U.S. Division of Justice introduced Friday (Aug. 16).
The 53-year-old lady, whose title is Lisa Jeanine Findley however has passed by quite a few aliases, has been charged with mail fraud and aggravated identification theft. She faces a most of 20 years in jail on the previous cost and a compulsory minimal of two years on the latter; she made an preliminary courtroom look in Missouri on Friday.
“As alleged within the grievance, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland, falsely claiming that Elvis Presley’s daughter had pledged the historic landmark as collateral for a mortgage that she did not repay earlier than her dying,” stated Principal Deputy Assistant Lawyer Normal Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Division’s prison division, in an announcement. “As a part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created quite a few false paperwork and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley household. Now she is dealing with federal prices. The Felony Division and its companions are dedicated to holding fraudsters to account.”
Based on paperwork filed in U.S. District Courtroom in Tennessee on Thursday (Aug. 15), Findley allegedly posed as three totally different individuals affiliated with an organization known as Naussany Investments & Personal Lending in claiming that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had used the famed Memphis mansion as collateral to safe a mortgage of $3.8 million that she did not repay. She additionally allegedly fabricated mortgage paperwork and cast the signatures of Lisa Marie and a notary public to file a false creditor’s declare with the Superior Courtroom of California in Los Angeles and a false deed of belief with the Shelby Nation Register’s Workplace in Memphis. The Justice Division additionally claims that Findley printed a fraudulent foreclosures discover within the Memphis every day newspaper The Business Attraction asserting that Naussany Investments would public sale Graceland on Could 23.
The tried public sale was shortly blocked after Presley’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough — who took over as trustee of Promenade Belief, the entity that controls Graceland, following Lisa Marie’s dying in January 2023 — gained a courtroom order halting it. Shortly thereafter, Findley allegedly wrote to Presley household representatives, the Tennessee state courtroom and the media to falsely declare that the individual answerable for the faud was an identification thief based mostly in Nigeria.
“Fame and cash are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on one other individual’s celeb standing,” stated Eric Shen, inspector accountable for U.S. Postal Inspection Service Felony Investigations Group (USPIS), in an announcement. “On this case, 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, trying to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley household for her private achieve. Postal Inspectors and their regulation enforcement companions put an finish to her alleged scheme, defending the Presley household from continued hurt and stress.”
