On June 18, a Missouri grandmother, Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, will stand earlier than a federal decide in Memphis, TN. She can be there to study what number of years she is going to spend in jail for her tried vendor impersonation fraud (SIF) to promote Graceland, the house of Elvis Presley. The sentence might be as much as 20 years.
The previous resident of Kimberling Metropolis, MO, pleaded responsible to at least one depend of mail fraud in late February. Data in america District Court docket of Western Tennessee element her scheme. She created a pretend mortgage firm, cobbled collectively pretend paperwork, and made fraudulent courtroom filings, in keeping with the courtroom submitting. All in an effort to swindle certainly one of Presley’s grandchildren out of the Presley mansion in Memphis.
Riley Keough, 35, a mannequin, actress, and filmmaker, inherited Graceland by way of The Promenade Belief when her mom died. Lisa Marie Presley handed away on January 12, 2023. That was 4 days after she visited Graceland for the 88th anniversary of her father’s delivery. Keough’s mom was the one youngster of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.
Vendor Impersonation Fraud On The Rise
Findley, who has a string of aliases, is formally convicted of mail fraud. Nevertheless, it’s much like wire fraud. The distinction between mail and wire fraud is the means used to perpetrate the crime. Mail fraud is dedicated utilizing america Postal Service (USPS) or different carriers, similar to FedEx, UPS, and many others. Wire fraud makes use of digital communication, similar to faxes, telephones, emails, or the web.
Each mail and wire fraud are SIF swindles carrying federal sentences as much as 20 years. Extra importantly for property house owners and actual property professionals, SIFs are on the rise.
The 2025 Particular Report: Actual Property Wire Fraud Tendencies discovered that 95% of title and escrow professionals surveyed reported wire fraud elevated or remained fixed over the earlier yr. As well as, 60% mentioned they’ve been subjected to such fraud within the final 12 months.
The fraud risk report is revealed annually by Qualia, a digital actual property closing platform. The agency solely sees fraud makes an attempt growing.
“The monetary impacts of wire fraud appear prone to improve within the years forward,” in keeping with a Qualia evaluation of its 2025 report. “Already, some title & escrow firms have skilled losses of greater than $500,000 in a single yr.”
The Graceland Scheme
The Graceland SIF scheme is a basic, with a couple of gildings.
SIF plots typically start with the demise of a property proprietor. The plan to cheat Keough out of Graceland started with the demise of her mom, Lisa Marie Presley, at age 54.
Findley launched her scheme by making a pretend firm, Naussany Investments & Non-public Lending, LLC., in keeping with courtroom paperwork. Findley used that firm identify and no less than three aliases to launch her SIF rip-off.
Posing as Kurt Naussany, a pretend officer of the pretend firm, Findley emailed Keough’s attorneys a couple of months after Lisa Marie Presley’s demise, threatening to foreclose on Graceland. Performing as Naussany Investments, Findley filed a false creditor’s declare with the Superior Court docket of California in Los Angeles and a pretend deed of belief with the Shelby County Register’s Workplace in Memphis.
Fishy Mortgage Paperwork
The phony lending firm claimed Lisa Marie Presley had pledged Graceland as collateral for a $3.8 million mortgage that had not been repaid. Naussamy Investments was providing to settle the declare for $2.85 million.
In one other fabrication, Naussany produced a promissory observe purportedly signed by Presley and notarized by a Florida notary in 2018.
Nevertheless, two issues with the promissory observe surfaced instantly.
One was that the mortgage doc was imagined to have been notarized remotely. Such transactions are completed utilizing video conferencing. The issue there was that Florida didn’t permit distant on-line notarization (RON) till 2020.
One other was that the signature appeared nothing like Presley’s or the notary’s. Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose signature was badly cast, submitted an affidavit to the grand jury that investigated the SIF case. In it, she swore that she didn’t notarize the transaction. “I’ve by no means met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I ever notarized a doc signed by Lisa Marie Presley,” Philbrick wrote. “I have no idea why my signature seems on this doc.”
Keough Fights Again
Push again on the SIF was launched when Keough sued Naussamy Investments in Tennessee state courtroom.
Findley, performing as Naussany Investments, ran an advert in Memphis’ day by day newspaper, The Industrial Enchantment. The advert introduced that Graceland can be offered to the very best bidder on Might 23 final yr. Nevertheless, Keough’s go well with stopped the sale.
Dealing with authorized scrutiny, Findley contacted Keough’s attorneys, the state courtroom, and members of the information media, reporting that the entire thing was a fraud. Nevertheless, she pointed the blame for the scheme on an unidentified identification thief in Nigeria.
Arrest on Anniversary Of Elvis’ Demise
Coincidentally, Findley was arrested for her Graceland scheme on August 16, 2024 – the forty seventh anniversary of Elvis Presley’s demise. For some, that added a private contact to the case.
“As a Memphian, I do know that Graceland is a nationwide treasure,” mentioned U.S. Legal professional Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee. “This defendant allegedly used a brazen scheme to attempt to defraud the Presley household of their curiosity on this singularly essential landmark. After all, all householders need to have their property protected against fraud, and the Division of Justice will vigorously prosecute anybody who commits monetary crimes or identification theft.”
How Vendor Impersonation Fraud Works
“Most often of SIF, the fraudster searches public data to determine property that’s free and away from a mortgage mortgage or different liens,” in keeping with Outdated Republic Title’s web site.
These grifters typically search trip properties, rental properties, and vacant land. As well as, seniors are sometimes focused.
As soon as a property is chosen, the felony poses because the property proprietor. They then rent an actual property agent utilizing e mail, the web, or textual content messaging to speak.
Usually, the perpetrator tells the agent they want a fast sale for an emergency. Consequently, they record the property under market worth for an all-cash purchaser and a fast shut.
How To Defend Your self
There are quite a few crimson flags that sign potential fraud in actual property transactions. The American Land Title Affiliation (ALTA) offers a free obtain of SIF.
Among the many issues which will point out SIF are:
- The proprietor won’t meet in particular person and can solely talk by textual content, e mail, or phone.
- The property isn’t occupied by the proprietor.
- The vendor desires a sale inside three weeks and will not negotiate charges.
Measures you’ll be able to take to safeguard your pursuits embrace:
- Ask the actual property agent if they’ve met the vendor in particular person or have verified his/her identification.
- Mail a letter to the proprietor of the property on the tackle listed on the tax data.
- Require notarization from a notary you’ve personally verified. Do not forget that a respectable notary’s signature was cast within the Graceland case.
- Examine the vendor’s signature to the signature of the proprietor proven on different recorded paperwork.
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Max Ok. Erkiletian started writing for newspapers whereas nonetheless in highschool. He went on to turn into an award-winning journalist and co-founder of the print journal Free Chook. He has written for a variety of regional and nationwide publications in addition to many on-line publications. That has afforded him the chance to interview quite a lot of distinguished figures from former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Financial institution Paul Volker to Blues musicians Muddy Waters and B. B. King. Max lives in Springfield, MO along with his spouse Karen and their cat – Pudge. He spends as a lot time as potential along with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
