A Missouri woman has been charged with an audacious attempt to defraud Elvis Presley's estate and commandeer the iconic Graceland mansion, federal investigators disclosed. Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City allegedly masterminded a plan involving fake identities and forged documents to lay claim to the Presley family's famed Memphis home, according to authorities.
The complex scheme, as reported by Action News 5, involved Findley using at least six aliases including Lisa Holden and Gregory Naussany, purporting to represent an ostensibly legitimate company, Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC. Findley is faced with federal mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. If convicted, the penalties are severe; she could serve more than two decades behind bars.
Court documents elaborate on how Findley allegedly falsified loan documents and signature of Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley's daughter, claiming that Presley had defaulted on a $3.8 million loan with Graceland collateralized. The accusations include publishing a counterfeit foreclosure notice, with a judge having to intervene to halt a planned auction in May, as reported by WREG. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office was quoted saying, "This defendant allegedly used a brazen scheme to try to defraud the Presley family of their interest in this singularly important landmark."
Findley attempted to extract $2.85 million from Presley's estate to settle the falsified claim, and when exposed, shifted blame to a so-called Nigerian identity thief, The National Desk reports. This alleged act of misdirection happened amid legal actions taken by Elvis Presley's family, who denied any such loan existed through a 60-page lawsuit filed in Shelby County Chancery Court.
Further investigation into these matters is ongoing, with the United States Postal Inspection Service and the FBI continuing to unravel the intricacies of the case. Eric Shen, Inspector in Charge at USPIS, told The National Desk, "Fame and money are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on another person’s celebrity status," said Eric Shen, "In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain."
