A woman has admitted attempting to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale.
Lisa Jeanine Findley had initially denied charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in relation to the scheme but has now changed her plea in the two-count indictment.
Prosecutors had said Findley, of Kimberling City, Missouri, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie had borrowed $3.8m (£3m) from a bogus private lender and had pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before her death in January 2023.
Findley then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family did not pay a $2.85m (£2.25m) settlement, according to authorities.
She posed as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024, prosecutors said.
A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, actress Riley Keough, sued.
Experts were baffled by the attempt to sell off one of the most famous pieces of property in the country using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected to be fake.
Woman charged over alleged scheme to fraudulently sell Elvis Presley’s former home Graceland
Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes expected to fetch up to £120,000 at auction
Mark James: Suspicious Minds and Hooked On A Feeling songwriter dies
Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Presley, known as the King of Rock and Roll, died in August 1977 at the age of 42
Keough, who inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, filed a lawsuit claiming fraud against Findley and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction.
Naussany Investments and Private Lending – the bogus lender authorities say Findley created – said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice.
The judge said Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.
Read more from Sky News:
Businessman’s body found in ‘sack of pineapples’
Large bruise on Trump’s hand prompts speculation over health
Couple ‘forced’ to sit next to dead woman on flight
Ms Keough’s lawsuit alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Ms Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.
After the scheme fell apart, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said.
An email sent on 25 May 2024 to the Associated Press from the same email as the earlier statement said in Spanish that the foreclosure sale attempt was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets old and dead people in the US and uses the internet to steal money.
In a statement, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the scheme “nonsense” and praised the work of federal authorities.
“Graceland matters so much to 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,” Mr Skrmetti said.
“All of Tennessee is glad that Graceland remains safely in the possession of Elvis’s heir and that it will remain a celebrated Memphis landmark for generations to come.”
Findley will be sentenced on 18 June and would have faced up to 20 years if convicted, but she is expected to receive less than that under the plea deal.
