An alleged identity thief has come forward to claim responsibility for a daring plan to take control of Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion, The New York Times reports. and put it up for auction.
The publication reported that a person contacted via email admitted to being the ringleader of the plot.
The plot reportedly involved other scammers and ultimately failed in court last week but remains shrouded in mystery.
The fraudster, who said he was from Nigeria, described the foreclosure as a scam rather than a legitimate debt collection attempt, The Times reported.
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Elvis Presley (left) and his Graceland mansion (right). A new report says someone has admitted to being behind a plan to steal Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion and put it up for auction. (Screen Collection/Getty Images, left, Reuters)
The ringleader told the media that his gang targeted the dead, unsuspecting people and the elderly, particularly those from Florida and California. They use birth certificates and other documents to uncover personal information that aids their illegal schemes to steal property.
“We figured out how to steal,” the accused thief said. “That’s what we do.”
The email address it corresponded to matched one used in court documents from Naussany Investments and Private Lending, the company seeking to foreclose on the property, the Times reported.
Naussany Investments and Private Lending claims Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie Presley, applied for a $3.8 million loan from the company, using Graceland, Tennessee, as collateral. Nosani claimed Lisa Marie never repaid the money before her death last year. As a result, the company attempted to recoup its alleged losses by auctioning the property.
But Riley Keough, Ives’ granddaughter and sole heir to the property, claimed the loan agreement was a scam and asked a court on Wednesday to order a halt to the sale.
Keogh insists Nosani used forged documents and a fake shell company to make his claims. The injunction was granted and then, in another plot twist, Nosani withdrew his claim after a court hearing.
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Lisa Marie Presley (left), Priscilla Presley (center) and Riley Keough (right). (Axel/Ball Griffin)
According to the Times, the email author acknowledged that the group turned its attention to Graceland as early as September, eight months after the death of Lisa Marie Presley. Naussany Investments filed documents with California Probate Court unveiling purported debts from Lisa Marie Presley in 2018. The document included a deed of trust with a signature purporting to be that of Lisa Marie Presley, with Graceland as security.
According to the Daily Mail, the company claimed in an email to the family’s attorney that it would accept a reduced $2.8 million to repay the loan before filing a collection claim in a Los Angeles court.
Nosani Investments then placed an ad in a Memphis newspaper advising of its plans to auction Graceland in foreclosure.
But Keogh did not believe her mother had taken out the loan and successfully challenged it in court on Wednesday and obtained an injunction.
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Keough’s attorney, Jeffrey Delman, filed a complaint with the court over the authenticity of the alleged trust deed. Germany filed an affidavit saying the so-called notary failed to notarize Lisa Marie’s signature on the alleged trust deed and never met Lisa Marie Presley.
The Times said it asked for clarification on specific issues, but the email author responded, “You don’t have to understand,” while taking credit for the crew’s alleged success in other cases.
“I’m the one causing trouble,” the author said in his first email on Friday. The emailer claimed to live in Nigeria but wrote in Luganda, a Bantu language spoken in Uganda, and broken English, according to the Times. To add even more mystery to the case, the court documents appear to be written in fluent English.
“Your customers have nothing to worry about,” the person wrote. “Beat her.” The author then added: “She beat me at my own game.”
Graceland Mansion, Elvis Presley (left) and Riley Keough (right). A new report says someone has admitted to being behind a plan to steal Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion and put it up for auction. (Getty Images)
The case still leaves many unanswered questions, including the existence of Nosani investments and private lending. For example, the Times reported that the company’s phone number listed in court documents was not yet in use, and that the company’s listed address was that of a post office.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is investigating Naussany Investments’ attempt to foreclose on Graceland.
“I have asked my attorneys to investigate this matter to determine the full scope of any wrongdoing that may have occurred and to determine what steps we can take to protect Elvis Presley’s heirs and anyone else who may be subject to similar threats,” Scametti said in a statement. people.
