Missouri Woman Charged in Plot to Steal Graceland from Presleys

On Friday, the 47th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley at Graceland, Missouri police arrested a woman that federal prosecutors claim tried to steal the 13.8-acre mansion away from Presley’s surviving family.

Elvis Presley, who became a Las Vegas legend in the 1970s, poses in front of Graceland shortly after purchasing it, for $102,500, in 1957. It’s been in his family ever since — and will continue to be. (Image: Graceland.com)

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, is charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She faces from 2-20 years in prison.

Findley’s scheme was foiled in May, when actor Riley Keough obtained a restraining order against a fraudulent public auction of Graceland. Keough inherited Graceland, along with the rest of her late grandfather’s estate, through a trust after her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died in January 2023 at age 54.

After the court granted the order, the US Department of Justice untangled an elaborate plot involving forged signatures, fake identities, and a fraudulent foreclosure notice placed in a Memphis newspaper.

Prosecutors say Findley posed as three different individuals from a fictitious lending group, Naussany Investments, that claimed to have leant Lisa Marie $3.8 million in 2018 that she never repaid. That loan supposedly pledged Graceland as collateral.

On May, 23, a handwriting expert contacted by Casino.org confirmed that the Lisa Marie signature affixed to the loan application form was forged.

When the bogus auction — notice of which Findley published in the Memphis Commercial Appeal — made national headlines, Findley then “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 a Nigerian identity thief located in Nigeria,” prosecutors said in a press statement.

Findley is due to be arraigned later today in Kansas City, Mo.

But the story may not be over with the verdict in this case. An unnamed official with the Elvis estate told TMZ they don’t believe Findley will be the last domino to fall.

“We do not believe (she) is the mastermind behind the scam,” the official told the gossip site. “Statements attributed to the woman arrested have pointed to someone who has a loose affiliation with the Elvis world.”

Corey Levitan joined Casino.org in 2022 after a long career covering Las Vegas. He currently covers entertainment, dining and gaming news in Las Vegas.

Corey spent six years covering the Vegas Strip for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he also wrote the most popular humor column in the city’s history. (For “Fear and Loafing,” he tried out 176 Vegas jobs, including poker player, blackjack dealer and Follie Bergere dancer.)

Corey has won more than 100 local, state and national awards for his journalism, which has also appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and the New York Post.

Corey is a New York native whose hobbies include playing guitar, trying to be a better husband, and arguing with strangers on Facebook.

Contact Corey at corey@casino.org.

Comments icon

Conversation (0)

+ Add a comment

Be the first to comment on this article.

Write a comment

Your email address will not be published.