Turn up the volume on your real estate success at Inman On Tour: Nashville! Connect with industry trailblazers and top-tier speakers to gain powerful insights, cutting-edge strategies, and invaluable connections. Elevate your business and achieve your boldest goals — all with Music City magic. Register now.
A Missouri woman who last year created an elaborate scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s descendants out of his Graceland mansion has pleaded guilty to federal charges.
In a change of plea hearing on Tuesday, Lisa Jeanine Findley of Kimberling City told a federal judge in Memphis that she would plead guilty to a charge of mail fraud she incurred last August. Previously, Findley pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, which also included aggravated identity theft.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR FEBRUARY
Findley’s sentencing will take place at a later date.
The scheme began last spring when a mysterious company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC attempted to put the historic mansion and tourist attraction up for foreclosure auction, fraudulently claiming that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ daughter who died in 2023, had borrowed millions and used Graceland as collateral. However, actor Riley Keough, Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, challenged the claim in court, and the sale was halted.
It was later determined that the alleged loan and the company behind it were both fraudulent.
The Postal Inspection Service found that there was a connection between an address tied to Naussany Investments and Findley, who has also gone by the aliases Lisa Holden, Lisa Howell, Lisa Jeanine Sullins, Carolyn Williams, Gregory Naussany and Kurt Naussany. The notary who was supposed to have signed off on Naussany’s documents also testified that she had never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her.
At one point in the saga, Findley anonymously corresponded via email with major news outlets, including The New York Times, allegedly revealing herself as a fraudster based in Nigeria.
“I am the one who creates trouble,” the email writer said, suggesting their deep involvement on the dark web and clandestine networks throughout the U.S. “We figure out how to steal. That’s what we do.”
Graceland became a museum and tourist attraction in 1982. The property where Elvis died at the age of 42 in 1977 draws hundreds of thousands of tourists per year.
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.
