Missouri woman arrested in alleged scheme to defraud Elvis Presley's family through Graceland sale
A Missouri woman was arrested Friday morning in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud Elvis Presley's family out of millions of dollars and the ownership of Graceland, the Justice Department announced.
Lisa Findley is alleged to have orchestrated the scheme to conduct the sale of Graceland by falsely claiming that Presley's daughter, prior to her death, had pledged the famous estate as collateral for a loan she hadn't repaid, prosecutors said.
"As part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created numerous false documents and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley family," the head of DOJ's criminal division, Nicole Argentieri, said in a statement announcing the arrest.
Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, Missouri, was charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, the DOJ said. During a brief appearance on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, she was ordered to be transferred to the Western District of Tennessee, where she was indicted, according to online court records. The government is also moving for her to be detained before trial. She is currently in the Greene County Jail in Springfield, Missouri, and will at least initially be represented by a federal public defender.
The criminal complaint, which was unsealed Friday, outlined the alleged scheme, which prosecutors said involved a fake private lender, forged documents and signatures and a fraudulent foreclosure notice for the Graceland estate in Memphis in an attempt to get millions from the Presley family.
The complaint alleged that Findley posed as three different people affiliated with a fake private lender -- called Naussany Investments -- and falsely claimed that Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, had borrowed $3.8 million in 2018 from the lender, used Graceland as collateral but failed to repay the debt.
Findley allegedly sent an email using one of the aliases to the attorneys of actress Riley Keough -- Lisa Marie's daughter and Presley's granddaughter -- about the fake loan, threatening to foreclose on Graceland, according to the complaint. The email was sent in July 2023, seven months after Lisa Marie died, according to the complaint.
Findley then allegedly sought $2.85 million from Presley's family to settle the fake claim by fabricating loan documents and forging the signatures of Presley's daughter and a Florida notary public, the DOJ said. She allegedly filed a fake creditor's claim in a Los Angeles court and a fake deed of trust with the Shelby County Register's Office in Memphis, the DOJ said.
Findley is also accused of publishing several fraudulent foreclosure notices in The Commercial Appeal, a Memphis newspaper, announcing Naussany Investments' plan to auction Graceland to the highest bidder on May 23. The notice drew global attention, and Naussany Investments was sued by Keough in an attempt to stop the sale, and a judge blocked the auction at the eleventh hour.
Findley then allegedly attempted to place blame for the mysterious scheme on someone else, prosecutors said.
"After the scheme attracted global media attention, Findley allegedly wrote to representatives of Elvis Presley's family, the Tennessee state court, and the media to claim falsely that the person responsible for the scheme was a Nigerian identity thief located in Nigeria," the DOJ said.
Findley allegedly used several aliases -- including Lisa Holden, Lisa Howell, Gregory Naussany, Kurt Naussany, Lisa Jeanine Sullins and Carolyn Williams -- as part of the scheme, according to prosecutors.
Federal investigators were able to trace several of the aliases and the fake private lender back to Findley, according to the complaint. The phone number and business address for Naussany Investments listed in the false creditor's claims were linked to Findley, according to the complaint. An email connected to the business phone number was also linked via Google Pay to bank accounts in Findley's name, according to the complaint. The email used to submit the fake foreclosure notice was linked to Lisa Holden, a name Findley was previously known as and continued to use, according to the complaint.
Her arrest comes 47 years to the day after Presley died at Graceland, on Aug. 16, 1977.
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, the DOJ said.
"As a Memphian, I know that Graceland is a national treasure," U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee said in a statement. "This defendant allegedly used a brazen scheme to try to defraud the Presley family of their interest in this singularly important landmark. Of course, all homeowners deserve to have their property protected from fraud, and the Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute anyone who commits financial crimes or identity theft."
The Florida notary public whose name was on the fake claim allegedly forged by Findley told ABC News earlier this week that she had no idea how her name was used in the scheme.
"Where did they get my name? That's the million-dollar question," Kimberly Philbrick said in her first comments since the Graceland auction story broke. "I don't know where they got it. I wish I knew where they got it because then I could tell them, 'Look, I'm a victim in this. You did this to me too.'"
The judge issued the order stopping the Graceland auction after Philbrick swore she had never seen the loan documents that she had been alleged to have notarized and had purportedly been signed by Lisa Marie in her presence.
"My life was uprooted," Philbrick said. "My identity was stolen, too. That's what a lot of people seem to forget."
