The U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday, August 18, 2024, that Lisa Jeanine Findley, a 53-year-old woman from Kimberling City, Missouri, has been arrested on charges of orchestrating a scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family. Findley allegedly attempted to auction off the iconic Graceland property before a judge intervened to halt the mysterious foreclosure sale.
Prosecutors claim that Findley falsely asserted that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had pledged the property as collateral for a loan she failed to repay before her death in 2023.
Findley is accused of fabricating loan documents and publishing a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper, announcing that Graceland would be auctioned to the highest bidder in May.
The scheme came to light when a public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate claimed that Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owed $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan. Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter and an actor who inherited the trust and ownership of Graceland after her mother’s death, filed a lawsuit alleging fraud.
A judge subsequently halted the proposed auction with an injunction. The lawsuit claimed that Naussany Investments and Private Lending, the company behind the foreclosure notice, presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023. It further alleged that Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.
The authenticity of the documents was called into question when Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name was listed, stated she had never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her.
The Tennessee attorney general’s office initially investigated the Graceland controversy before handing the probe over to federal authorities in June 2024.
As the case unfolds, it highlights the ongoing challenges in protecting high-profile estates from fraudulent activities and the importance of vigilance in verifying financial transactions involving iconic properties.
