A Missouri woman has been taken into custody and faces federal charges for allegedly orchestraing a foreclosure scheme on Elvis Presley's Graceland estate to defraud his family out of millions of dollars.
Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, Missouri, was arrested and charged Friday, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
In May, an alleged scam orchestrated by Findley sent the Presley family into chaos. Findley allegedly attempted to force a foreclosure sale of Graceland -- which draws in a staggering 600,000 tourists every year -- by claiming that the late Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis, had used the historic Memphis, Tennessee, mansion as collateral for a loan she was unable to pay before her death.
According to prosecutors, Findley allegedly used false identities and created fake documents that claim Lisa Marie, who passed away in January 2023, supposedly defaulted on a $3.8 million loan from a fictitious firm called Naussany Investments in 2018 and used Graceland as collateral.
The complaint claimed the woman sought $2.85 million from the Presley family to settle Lisa Marie's alleged debt.
Findley allegedly filed a false creditor's claim in Los Angeles and a fake deed of trust in Memphis. She also allegedly published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper, claiming that Graceland would be auctioned off on May 23, according to the press release.
Upon learning of the impending foreclosure, the Presley family wasted no time taking legal action to halt the purported court-sanctioned sale.
Lisa Marie's daughter Riley Keough alleged that her mother's supposed signature on the documents was forged. After raising concerns about the deed's validity, a Tennessee court intervened to stop the sale and thoroughly investigated the questionable signatures.
According to a June NBC report, a person going by the name Gregory Naussany emailed various news outlets claiming that he was part of a group of Nigerian cybercriminals who was supposedly behind the scheme to acquire ownership of the iconic estate.
Investigators have now identified Findley as the source of the string of emails sent to the news organizations.
According to Missouri prosecutors, Findley operated under six different aliases: Lisa Holden, Lisa Howell, Gregory Naussany, Kurt Naussany, Lisa Jeanine Sullins, and Carolyn Williams.
She has a history of fraud, scams, and forged checks that spans decades, according to NBC News.
Testimony presented to a federal grand jury Tuesday described a complicated scam aimed at the Presley family. Notable witnesses included Rasheed Jeremy Carballo, who previously lived with Findley while she was using the alias Lisa Holden, and Kimberly Philbrick.
Carballo previously told NBC News that early this year, Findley mentioned alleged plans to pursue a foreclosure on the Graceland estate.
Following these developments, federal authorities charged Findley with aggravated identity theft and mail fraud on Friday.
"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 loan that she failed to repay before her death," Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's criminal division and principal deputy assistant attorney general, said in the press release.
"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," Argentieri continued. "Now she is facing federal charges. The Criminal Division and its partners are committed to holding fraudsters to account."
If Findley is found guilty, she could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for mail fraud and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for identity theft.
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