Riley Keough is suing the sale of Graceland for fraud

Lawyers for actress Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, have filed a lawsuit to stop what they say is a fraudulent scheme to sell Graceland, the family’s former home in Memphis.

Court papers filed by Ms. Keough’s lawyers this month allege that the company planning to auction Graceland fraudulently claimed that her mother — Elvis’ daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023 — had borrowed money and put up Graceland as collateral. Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC, the papers say, “appears to be a fake entity,” and that the documents it provided for the loan were also forged.

“There is no foreclosure sale,” Elvis Presley Enterprises, which operates Graceland, said in a statement, which also said the lawsuit was filed “to stop fraud.”

Graceland, a popular tourist attraction, is a major source of income for Elvis Presley Enterprises and the family trust.

A representative for Ms. Keogh, who controls her family’s trust, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. The lawyer representing Keough in the case also did not respond.

Months after Lisa Marie Presley’s death, Nosani Investments filed documents claiming she had borrowed $3.8 million from the company and “gave a deed of trust encumbering Graceland as collateral,” according to court papers filed in Shelby County, Tennessee. Copies of the documents were provided to the New York Times by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Ms. Keogh’s lawsuit alleges that although a promissory note related to the alleged debts appeared to have been notarized in Florida in 2018, the notary named in the documents, Kimberly Philbrick, denied doing so. “I have never met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I notarized a document signed by Lisa Marie Presley,” an affidavit from Ms. Philbrick says.

Naussany Investments had scheduled the sale of Graceland for Thursday, court papers say. But after Ms. Keogh’s lawyers argued that the act was fraudulent, the court issued a restraining order preventing any sale, according to the documents. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, documents say.

Attempts to reach Naussany Investments via the email addresses and phone numbers listed for the company in court documents were not immediately successful. It was said that one of the phone numbers listed was no longer in service.

Last year, Ms. Keogh and her grandmother Priscilla Presley were embroiled in a legal battle that lasted for several months, ultimately resulting in Ms. Keogh being made sole trustee of the financial instrument set up by her mother, the Promenade Trust.

Lisa Marie Presley established the fund in 1993. Although its assets had grown to more than $100 million by 2005, it had accumulated huge debts over time, forcing it to avoid repaying its debts. Selling 85% of Elvis Presley’s company To help pay her bills.

In her 2022 income and expense declaration, Lisa Marie Presley estimated her debts exceeded $3 million. But the filing did not specify who owed money or to whom.

Even as costs rose at times, the family kept the main house at Graceland, an eight-bedroom, eight-bath Colonial house in Memphis that served as Elvis Presley’s personal home from 1957 until his death in 1977. He is 42 years old . The home is appraised at $5.6 million in 2021.

But Graceland has become much more valuable as a tourist attraction. In 2022, operations at Graceland generated at least $80 million, most of it supporting Elvis Presley projects. The Family Trust retains 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises.