A Missouri woman has been charged with trying to defraud Elvis Presley’s family out of millions of dollars and steal the family’s ownership interest in Graceland, the American singing legend’s former home.
Lisa Jeanine Findley, who used various aliases, was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the fraudulent sale of a Graceland home in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ms. Findley, 53, is charged with federal mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and is expected to appear in court on Friday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.
The Presley family has not commented publicly on the allegations.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Ms. Findley impersonated three different individuals associated with a fictitious private lender called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC (Naussany Investments).
The US Department of Justice accuses her of falsely claiming that Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley, who died in January 2023, borrowed $3.8m (£3m) from Naussany Investments , and promised Graceland as collateral for the loan, but failed to repay the debt.
Ms Findlay is allegedly seeking $2.85 million (£2.2 million) from Presley’s family to settle the alleged debt, according to the US Department of Justice.
The fraud she is accused of includes forging loan documents, forging the signature of Elvis Presley’s daughter and publishing a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis daily announcing Nosani’s planned May 23 auction Graceland.
The Justice Department said Ms. Findlay also allegedly filed false court documents when the Presley family sued Naussany Investments in an attempt to block the sale of Graceland.
The sale of Graceland attracted international attention earlier this year after actress Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter, claimed the loan documents were fraudulent. She said her mother’s signature was forged.
Ms Keogh inherited Graceland, which has long been a public museum dedicated to Mr Presley, after her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died last year Inherited much of Presley’s estate.
She filed legal action to stop the planned auction, and a Tennessee judge agreed.
At the time, Graceland and the Elvis Presley Enterprises issued a statement to the BBC: “As the courts have now made clear, these claims have no validity.”
Ives bought the Graceland mansion in 1957 and lived there until his death two decades later.
The 14-acre property opened to the public in the early 1980s as a music history park. It is now officially a National Historic Landmark and attracts approximately 600,000 visitors annually, according to the venue.
Elvis Presley died and was buried at Graceland, as are his parents, daughter Lisa Marie Presley and her son Benjamin Keough.
Attempts by the BBC to contact a lawyer for Ms Findlay were unsuccessful.
She made a brief court appearance Friday and was booked into the Greene County, Missouri, jail.
