Woman charged with plotting to steal Graceland from Presley family

A Missouri woman has been charged with trying to defraud Elvis Presley’s family of millions of dollars and stealing the family’s share of ownership in Graceland, the American singing legend’s family home.

Lisa Janine Findley, who used a variety of aliases, was arrested on charges of orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently sell Graceland, a home in Memphis, Tennessee.

Findley, 53, has been charged with federal mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and is due in court on Friday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

Presley’s family has not publicly commented on the allegations.

The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Ms. Findley posed as three different individuals associated with a fictitious private lender called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC (Naussany Investments).

The Justice Department alleges the woman falsely claimed that Elvis Presley’s daughter – Lisa Marie Presley, who died in January 2023 – borrowed $3.8 million (£3 million) from Nosani Investments, pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan, and failed to repay the debt.

The US Department of Justice says Ms Findlay was seeking $2.85m (£2.2m) from the Presley family to settle the alleged debt.

Among the fraudulent acts Nosani is accused of are forging loan documents, forging the signature of Elvis Presley’s daughter, and publishing a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis daily newspaper announcing that Nosani planned to auction Graceland on May 23.

When the Presley family sued Nosani Investments in an attempt to stop the sale of Graceland, Ms. Findlay also allegedly made false court filings, according to the Justice Department.

The Graceland auction attracted international attention earlier this year after Presley’s granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, claimed that the documents for the loan were forged. She said her mother’s signature was fake.

Ms. Keough inherited Graceland, a longtime public museum honoring Mr. Presley, and much of Presley’s estate after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.

A lawsuit was filed to stop the planned auction and a Tennessee judge agreed.

At the time, Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises issued a statement to the BBC saying: “As the court has now made clear, there was no basis for these claims.”

Elvis purchased Graceland in 1957 and lived there until his death two decades later.

The 14-acre complex opened to the public as a music history park in the early 1980s. Now officially a National Historic Landmark, it attracts nearly 600,000 visitors a year, according to the venue.

Elvis died at Graceland and is buried there, as are his parents, daughter Lisa Marie Presley and son Benjamin Keough.

BBC attempts to reach Ms Findlay’s lawyer were unsuccessful.

On Friday, she appeared in a brief court appearance and was booked into the Greene County, Missouri, jail.