Missouri’s wife declares the federal position at the plot to sell Graceland

By Adrian Sainz

Memphis, Tenn. (AP) – A woman from Missouri declared himself guilty on Tuesday of a federal position accusing her of inventing a shame stopped the mysterious sale of mortgage execution.

During a hearing in front of a federal judge of Memphis, Lisa Jeanine Findley declared himself guilty of a Mail fraud related to the scheme. He previously declared himself innocent of the accusation of two positions, which also includes a charge of aggravated identity theft that will now be eliminated.

When the judge asked him if Findley admitted to blame and accepted responsibility, she said “yes.”

Findley will be sentenced on June 18. He would have faced up to 20 years if he is convicted, but he is expected to receive less than that by virtue of the guilt agreement.

Findley, from Kimberling City, falsely said that Presley’s daughter borrowed $ 3.8 million from a false private lender and has promised Graceland as a guarantee of the previous loan. His death in January 2023The prosecutors said that when she was accused in August 2024. He then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family did not pay a $ 2.85 million agreement, according to the authorities.

Findley passed through three different people who allegedly involved with the false lender, the loan documents manufactured, and published a fraudulent mortgage execution notice in a Memphis newspaper that announces the Graceland auction in May 2024, prosecutors said. A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.

The experts were baffled Through the attempt to sell one of the most historical real estate pieces in the country using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected they were false.

Graceland opened as a museum and a tourist attraction in 1982 and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. A large entertainment complex with the theme of Presley on the other side of the museum street is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Presley died in August 1977, at the age of 42.

In May, a public notice for a mortgage execution of the equity of 13 acres (5 hectares) said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland Museum, owes $ 3.8 million after not paying a loan of 2018. Riley KeoughPresley’s granddaughter and an actor inherited the confidence and property of the house after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley.

Keough filed a demand that claims fraud, and a judge arrested the proposed auction with a court order. Naussany Investments and private loans, the authorities of false lenders say that Findley created, said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as a guarantee for the loan, according to the warning warning of mortgage execution. Keough’s demand claimed that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed Naussany money.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name appears in Naussany’s documents, said he never met Lisa Marie Presley or noticed any document for her, according to the demand for heritage. The judge said that the affidavit of the notary doubts “the authenticity of the firm.”

The judge arrested the sale of the mortgage execution of Memphis’s beloved tourist attraction, saying that Elvis Presley’s heritage could succeed in arguing that the attempt of a graceland auction company was fraudulent.

The Tennessee Attorney’s Office He had been investigating Graceland’s controversy, then confirmed in June that gave the investigation to the federal authorities.

A statement sent by email to Associated Press after the judge arrested the sale said that Naussany would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were registered and obtained in a different state, which means that “legal actions They would have to appear in multiple states. “The statement, sent from an email address listed in judicial documents, did not specify the other State.

After the plan collapsed, Findley tried to seem that the responsible person was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said. An email sent on May 25 to the AP of the same email that the previous statement said in Spanish that the attempt to sell mortgage execution was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that is addressed to old and dead people in the United States and Use Internet to steal money.

In a statement, Tennessee’s attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti described the “meaningless” scheme and praised the work of federal authorities.

“Graceland is very important for so many people around the world, just go to Memphis during Elvis week and listen to all the different accents and languages of fans who make the pilgrimage,” Skrmetti said. “Everything Tennessee is glad that Graceland remains safely in possession of Elvis’s heir and will continue to be a famous Memphis historical for generations to come.”

This story has been updated to correct the Findley sentence date. It will be June 18, not June 19.

Associated Press Jonathan Mattise’s reporter contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.

Originally published: February 25, 2025 at 10:39 am PST