50s Woman Claims "Elvis's Daughter Borrowed Money Using Mansion as Collateral"
Loan Documents and Signatures Forged... Demands Large Settlement
A woman in her 50s in the United States who committed fraud against the heirs to seize the mansion left by Elvis Presley has been imprisoned. This woman also forged documents to make it appear as if Presley’s daughter had borrowed money and not repaid it during her lifetime.
On the 16th (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice announced that federal prosecutors had arrested and indicted Lisa Janine Findley (53), a woman living in Missouri, in connection with the auction fraud case involving Presley’s residence.
She is accused of falsely claiming that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s only daughter, borrowed $3.8 million (about 5.15 billion KRW) using the Tennessee mansion “Graceland” in Memphis as collateral and failed to repay it, and attempted to sell the house.
Findley forged various loan documents and notary signatures to make it appear that Marie Presley had taken out a loan from a lending company using Graceland as collateral. She then threatened Presley’s heirs, saying, “If the debt is not repaid, Graceland will have to be put up for auction.”
She also submitted false creditor claims to the court and fake trust deeds to the registry office, then published false seizure notices and auction plans for Graceland in a local daily newspaper.
The Department of Justice stated, “Findley fabricated numerous false documents for her brazen scheme and tried to force Presley’s family into a settlement.”
After the auction notice in May, Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough (34) filed a lawsuit in court to stop the auction of Graceland. Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, inherited most of the assets left by Presley, including Graceland, after her mother passed away last year.
Findley then demanded a settlement of $2.85 million (about 3.86 billion KRW) from Keough’s side. However, it was soon revealed that Lisa Marie Presley’s signature was forged, and a request was made to the prosecutors to investigate her document forgery charges.
After the prosecution’s investigation began and attracted worldwide media attention, Findley sent letters to Presley’s family representatives, the court, and media outlets falsely claiming that the mastermind of this fraud was an identity theft criminal based in Nigeria, but she could not avoid conviction.
The Department of Justice explained that Findley faces charges of mail fraud and identity theft, and if convicted, mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while identity theft carries a minimum sentence of 2 years in prison.
Graceland is a large mansion with a land area of 56,656㎡ (about 17,140 pyeong), which Presley purchased in 1957 and lived in for 20 years until his death in 1977. Presley’s heirs converted the mansion into a music history memorial park in 1982 and opened it to the public.
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