Graceland Scam: Woman Sentenced to Prison Over Fraud Scheme to Auction Off Elvis Presley’s Mansion

A pistillate who tried to merchantability disconnected Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion for millions of dollars successful a bizarre strategy has been sentenced to much than 4 years successful prison.

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 54, was ordered Tuesday (Sept. 23) by Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. to service 4 years and 9 months implicit the brazen scam, successful which she utilized a fake institution and forged documents to effort to behaviour a foreclosure merchantability of the legendary Memphis home.

The outlandish scheme, which befuddled media outlets and officials alike successful May 2024, centered connected Findley’s mendacious claims that Presley’s girl Lisa Marie Presley had pledged Graceland arsenic collateral for a indebtedness earlier her abrupt 2023 death.

“Fame and wealth are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize connected different person’s personage status,” said Eric Shen of the United States Postal Inspection Service, which investigated the scheme. “Ms. Findley took vantage of the precise nationalist and tragic occurrences successful the Presley household arsenic an accidental to prey connected the sanction and fiscal presumption of the heirs to the Graceland estate.”

Findley pleaded blameworthy successful February to a azygous complaint of message fraud arsenic portion of a plea woody that saw prosecutors driblet a complaint of aggravated individuality theft. In summation to the situation sentence, Judge Fowlkes ordered Findley to service 3 years of probation aft her release. Her lawyer did not instantly instrumentality a petition for remark connected Wednesday (Sept. 24).

When Elvis died successful 1977, Lisa Marie inherited his estate, including Graceland — a tourer mecca that pulls successful millions a twelvemonth successful revenue. But successful aboriginal 2024, a mysterious foreclosure announcement claimed the mansion would beryllium auctioned disconnected to the highest bidder. It said Lisa Marie, who died abruptly successful January 2023, had failed to repay a 2018 indebtedness of $3.8 cardinal — and that she had posted the iconic gathering arsenic security.

Actress Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, who had inherited power of Graceland, rapidly filed a lawsuit to halt the sale, claiming the property had been the unfortunate of a fraud scheme. She argued that her parent had ne'er borrowed the wealth and that the paperwork surrounding the phony indebtedness was a forgery. Almost immediately, a justice issued an injunction blocking immoderate auction.

Months later, Findley was arrested and charged with orchestrating the full scam. Prosecutors said she utilized phony companies (Naussany Investments and Private Lending) and fake names (Kurt Naussany, Lisa Howell and others) and had threatened to spell done with the merchantability unless the property settled by paying $2.8 million.

The bizarre Graceland quality was conscionable 1 of respective ineligible headaches faced by the Presley household successful caller years. Following Lisa Marie’s abrupt death, her mother, Priscilla Presley, and girl Keough concisely sparred implicit her will. Priscilla is besides presently locked successful an ugly courtroom battle with respective erstwhile concern advisors.