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Suspicious minds: Paused Graceland foreclosure raises questions about alleged fraud
Elvis Presley's granddaughter pushes back against lender seeking to claim iconic estate
Alleged fraudsters may have taken words from a famous Elvis Presley song too seriously: “A little less conversation, a little more action.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is looking into a botched attempt to sell the famed Graceland mansion in Memphis at a foreclosure auction, the Associated Press reported. The AG’s decision comes after a chaotic week that almost saw the tourist attraction sold from beneath ownership’s blue suede shoes.
The drama started when Naussany Investments and Private Lending tried to sell the home/museum in a foreclosure auction, claiming the late Lisa Marie Presley failed to pay back a $3.8 million loan originated in 2018 that used Graceland as collateral. A public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate was posted earlier in the month.
The auction was scheduled Thursday, but an injunction Wednesday halted the sale. That injunction came shortly after Elvis’ granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, filed a lawsuit claiming fraud by Naussany and sought a restraining order.
The Presley estate alleged the claim to Graceland was based on forged documents presented in September; Keough became owner of the estate following her mother’s death in January 2023. The notary on Naussany’s documents never met or notarized anything for Lisa Marie, according to the lawsuit. Naussany denied the allegations and fought the injunction, in vain.
Once the injunction came down, Naussany appeared to back down. A supposed spokesperson for the company said it would drop its claim because paperwork would need to be filed in multiple states, without detailing why that would be the case.
Other authorities in Tennessee don’t appear to be looking into the Graceland drama at the moment. The FBI does not comment on the potential for investigations.
Graceland has operated as a museum and tourist attraction since 1982, five years after Elvis’ death. Hundreds of thousands of visitors can’t help stopping by Graceland each year, or the Elvis-themed entertainment complex across the street.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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