Missouri Woman Accused in Bold Scheme to Defraud Elvis Presley’s Family

A Missouri woman was arrested on Friday morning for allegedly attempting to defraud the family of Elvis Presley out of millions of dollars and even claiming ownership of Graceland, according to the Justice Department.

Lisa Findley, 53, is accused of orchestrating a scheme that involved falsely asserting that Presley’s late daughter had used the iconic estate as collateral for an unpaid loan. Prosecutors allege that she attempted to sell Graceland based on this dubious claim.

Nicole Argentieri, the head of the DOJ’s criminal division, said in a statement, “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.”

Findley appeared briefly in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, where she was charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She has been ordered to be transferred to the Western District of Tennessee, where she faces indictment, and authorities are seeking her detention until trial.

Currently, Findley is held at the Greene County Jail in Springfield, Missouri. She is expected to be represented by a federal public defender.

The unsealed criminal complaint revealed a detailed description of the alleged fraudulent scheme. Prosecutors outlined how Findley created fake documents, used forged signatures, and issued a fraudulent foreclosure notice for Graceland to extract millions from Presley’s family.

In the complaint, it was alleged that Findley impersonated three individuals connected to a fictitious private lender named Naussany Investments. She purportedly claimed that Lisa Marie Presley had borrowed $3.8 million in 2018 and had failed to pay it back.

Findley allegedly sent an email to the legal representation of Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, asserting the false claim and threatening foreclosure on Graceland. This email was dated July 2023, several months after Lisa Marie’s passing.

Seeking to settle her fabricated claim, Findley allegedly demanded $2.85 million from the Presley family by producing phony loan documents and forging the signatures of both Lisa Marie and a Florida notary public.

Furthermore, Findley is accused of submitting false creditor claims in a Los Angeles court and registering a fake deed of trust with the Shelby County Register’s Office in Memphis.

On top of that, she published fraudulent foreclosure notices in The Commercial Appeal, a Memphis newspaper, announcing Naussany Investments’ intention to auction Graceland on May 23. A lawsuit was filed by Keough to halt the sale, and a judge intervened just in time to obstruct the auction.

In a twist, Findley allegedly attempted to shift responsibility for her actions onto another party, claiming a Nigerian identity thief was behind the scheme. This was reported by the DOJ following media attention surrounding her actions.

Throughout the scheme, Findley used multiple aliases such as Lisa Holden, Lisa Howell, Gregory Naussany, and several others, according to prosecutors.

Federal investigators traced various identities and the fictional lender back to Findley. The phone number and business address associated with Naussany Investments linked back to her, as did an email connected to the fraudulent foreclosure notice.

This arrest coincidentally took place 47 years after Elvis Presley passed away at Graceland on August 16, 1977.

If convicted, Findley is facing serious consequences, including a mandatory two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, as well as a maximum of 20 years for mail fraud.

U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz commented on the situation, emphasizing the importance of protecting Graceland as a “national treasure” and promising rigorous prosecution for financial crimes and identity theft.

In the wake of these events, the Florida notary public whose name was used in the fraudulent claim expressed shock, saying she was unaware of her name being involved and felt victimized as well.

“I wish I knew where they got it because then I could tell them, ‘Look, I’m a victim in this. You did this to me too,'” stated Kimberly Philbrick.

Philbrick’s identity was allegedly stolen, as she reported never having seen the loan documents linked to the scheme.