A Missouri woman is accused of defrauding the family of legendary American singer Elvis Presley out of millions of dollars and trying to steal title to his family home, Graceland.
Lisa Janine Findley, who used a variety of aliases, was arrested on suspicion of orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently sell the Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee.
Findlay, 53, is scheduled to appear in court on Friday on federal charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Presley’s family has not publicly commented on the allegations.
The Department of Justice alleges that Findlay posed as three different individuals associated with a fictitious private lending company called Nowsanee Investments & Private Lending LLC (Nowsanee Investments).
The Department of Justice alleges that she falsely represented that Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in January 2023, borrowed $3.8 million (£3 million) from Northamptonshire Investments, used Graceland as collateral and then failed to repay the debt.
According to the Department of Justice, Findlay had sought $2.85 million (£2.2 million) from Presley’s family to settle debts.
Among the fraudulent acts she is accused of falsifying loan documents, forging the signature of Elvis Presley’s daughter and publishing a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis daily newspaper announcing that Nowsani planned to auction Graceland on May 23rd.
Findlay also allegedly filed false court documents when the Presleys sued Nowsunny Investments in an attempt to block the sale of Graceland, the Justice Department said.
The Graceland sale auction attracted international attention earlier this year when Presley’s granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, alleged that loan documents had been forged, and that her mother’s signature had been forged.
Keough inherited most of Presley’s estate and Graceland, which for many years was a public museum honoring Presley, after his mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died last year.
She filed a lawsuit to block the scheduled auction, and a Tennessee judge agreed.
At the time, Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises released a statement to the BBC saying: “As the court has made clear, the allegations were without merit.”
Elvis purchased the Graceland mansion in 1957 and lived there until his death 20 years later.
The 14-acre site opened to the public as Music History Park in the early 1980s. It is now officially designated a National Historic Landmark and attracts approximately 600,000 visitors a year, according to the facility.
Elvis died at Graceland and is buried there along with his parents, his daughter Lisa Marie Presley, and his son Benjamin Keough.
The BBC tried to contact Mr Findlay’s lawyer but was unsuccessful.
She made a brief court appearance Friday and was booked into the Greene County, Missouri, jail.
