A Missouri woman is accused of trying to defraud Elvis Presley’s family out of millions of dollars and steal the family’s ownership interest in Graceland, the US legend’s family home.
Lisa Jeanine Findley, who used various aliases, was arrested on suspicion of masterminding a scheme to sell counterfeit Graceland, located in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ms Findley, 53, has been charged with fraud and aggravated identity theft and is expected to appear in court on Friday. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
The Presley family has not gone public about the charges.
The US Department of Justice says Ms Findley impersonated three different people associated with a fictitious private lender called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC (Naussany Investments).
The DOJ alleges that she lied about Elvis Presley’s daughter – Lisa Marie Presley, who died in January 2023 – had borrowed $3.8m (£3m) from Naussany Investments, pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan and defaulted on the loan.
Ms Findley is said to be seeking $2.85m ($2.2m GBP) from Presley’s family to pay the alleged debt, according to the DOJ.
Among the fraudulent acts he was accused of were forging loan documents, forging the signature of Elvis Presley’s daughter and publishing a fake foreclosure notice in one of Memphis’ daily newspapers, announcing that Naussany planned to sell Graceland on May 23.
When the Presley family sued Naussany Investments in an attempt to stop the sale of Graceland, Ms. Findley allegedly filed false court documents, the DOJ said.
The auction to sell Graceland sparked international attention earlier this year, after Presley’s granddaughter, actor Riley Keough, claimed the loan documents were forged. He said his mother’s signature was forged.
Ms Keough inherited Graceland, which has long been a public museum honoring Mr Presley, and a large part of Presley’s estate after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.
He filed a lawsuit to stop the planned auction and a Tennessee judge agreed.
At the time, Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises issued a statement to the BBC: “As the court has made clear, there is no truth to the claims.”
Elvis bought the Graceland mansion in 1957 and lived there until his death two decades later.
The 14-acre site was opened to the public as a music museum in the early 1980s. Now officially a National Historic Landmark, it attracts about 600,000 visitors a year, according to the area.
Elvis died at Graceland and was buried there, along with his parents, his daughter Lisa Marie Presley, and his son, Benjamin Keough.
Attempts by the BBC to contact Ms Findley’s lawyer were unsuccessful.
On Friday, he appeared briefly in court and was booked into the Greene County, Missouri, jail.
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