Woman arrested in alleged scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family
A Missouri woman has been arrested for allegedly trying to defraud Elvis Presley’s family out of millions of dollars after she attempted to auction off his Graceland property despite not having any claim to the famous estate, the US Justice Department announced Friday.
Lisa Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, is accused of falsely claiming that Presley’s late daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had pledged Graceland to her as collateral for a $3.8 million loan she hadn’t repaid prior to her death in January 2023, prosecutors said.
“As part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created numerous false documents and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley family,” the head of DOJ’s criminal division, Nicole Argentieri, said in a statement announcing the arrest on charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Findley — who went by multiple names including Lisa Holden, Lisa Howell, Gregory Naussany — allegedly used different personas to fabricate fake loan documents for the fictitious company supposedly behind the agreement with Lisa Marie Presley, Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC (Naussany Investments).
To settle the purported claim, Findley sought $2.85 million from the Presely family, prosecutors say.
She then allegedly published a fraudulent foreclosure notice for Graceland in The Commercial Appeal, one of Memphis’s daily newspapers, announcing that Naussany Investments planned to auction the property to the highest bidder on May 23.
When news of the foreclosure hit, the Presley family quickly filed a lawsuit to block the sale allegedly approved by a court.
At the time, Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, Riley Keough, said the company behind the foreclosure had no right to it, arguing the loan was fake and not executed by her mother.
A Tennessee court eventually ruled to halt the sale and launched an investigation into the matter after questions were raised about the deed’s signature and authenticity.
Finally, when Naussany Investments was sued by Elvis Presley’s family in Tennessee state court as part of an effort to stop the sale of Graceland, Findley allegedly submitted false court filings, DOJ said in the statement.
Findley was charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, the DOJ said.
She is expected to make her initial court appearance Friday in Missouri federal court.
In a June interview outside her home, Findley denied any involvement or knowledge of a scam involving Graceland.
The Graceland scheme first became public in May after a company without any records or evidence that it existed at all, Naussany Investments, filed a court claim that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ only child — who died in January 2023 — owed millions of dollars in unpaid loans.
After the scheme attracted global media attention, Findley allegedly wrote to representatives of Elvis Presley’s family, the Tennessee state court, and the media to claim falsely that the person responsible for the scheme was an identity thief located in Nigeria, DOJ claimed.
“Fame and money are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on another person’s celebrity status,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group.
“In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain.
“Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners put an end to her alleged scheme, protecting the Presley family from continued harm and stress. This is an example of our relentless investigative work and commitment to bringing criminals to justice for their illegal activity.”
