MEMPHIS, Tennessee – The catalyst behind the failed attempt to sell the iconic Graceland property in Memphis is a mystery.
The self-proclaimed investment firm is also under attack by a lawsuit alleging fraud, an aggressive attorney general and a community of Elvis Presley loyalists who consider the rock ‘n’ roll king’s home-turned-museum hallowed ground.
Among the many questions surrounding the attempt to auction Graceland is how often cases arise in which an entity emerges to claim the assets of elderly or dead people. Experts say it is more common than you might think.
“I have never heard of a fraud targeting such a well-known institution. So it’s a little surprising in that sense,” said Nicole Forbes Stowell, a business law professor at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus. “But I don’t think it’s surprising to ordinary people that they are the targets.”
Naussany Investments and Private Lending caused an uproar when a public notice for the foreclosure sale of the 13-acre (5-hectare) Graceland property was posted this month.
The notice said the Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owed $3.8 million after defaulting on a 2018 loan. Riley Keough, actress and granddaughter of Elvis Presley, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after his mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died in 2023.
Naussany said Lisa Marie Presley used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. Keough filed a lawsuit on May 15, alleging that Naussany submitted fraudulent documents relating to the September 2023 loan and asked a Memphis judge to block the sale to the highest bidder.
“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments,” Keough’s attorney, Jeff Germany, wrote in the filing.
“It’s a hoax,” declared actress Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ ex-wife, on her social media accounts.
On Wednesday, an injunction from Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins halted the sale, which was planned for the next day. Jenkins said in court that Elvis Presley’s estate could be successful in arguing that Nausanny’s attempt to auction off Graceland is fraudulent.
One reason is a sworn statement from Kimberly Philbrick, the Florida notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents. Philbrick indicated he never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, according to the lawsuit. The judge said the statement questioned the authenticity of the signature.
In the relevant documents, the signature blocks were not correct and the paperwork references an online notarization option that was not recognized in Florida until 2020, two years after the supposed notarization, Stowell said.
“It makes me wonder if these documents were created after Lisa Marie’s death,” Stowell said. “The whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Mark Sunderman, a real estate professor at the University of Memphis, questioned why the lender would foreclose now if it hadn’t received payments years after issuing the loan.
“If someone starts missing payments or doesn’t make a payment, you’re not going to sit around for a few years and then say, ‘Oh my God, I think we need to foreclose now,’” Sunderman said.
The creditor’s legitimacy is also in doubt after unsuccessful attempts by the Associated Press to verify its existence beyond an email address and a court document signed by Gregory Naussany.
The court documents included addresses of businesses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Hollister, Missouri. Both were to post offices, and one reference in Kimberling City, Missouri, was to a PO box. The company is also not listed in state databases of businesses registered in Missouri or Florida.
“I’ve never heard of this thing,” said Kimberling town clerk Laura Cather.
A search of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s online records showed no company records. No representative for Naussany appeared in court, although the company unsuccessfully filed a motion denying the lawsuit’s allegations and opposing the estate’s request for a preliminary injunction.
After the sale was halted, Naussany issued a statement saying it would drop its claim because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in a different state, meaning “legal action would have to be filed in several States”. The statement did not specify the other state.
Naussany did not respond to interview requests emailed by the AP. Online court records showed no legal record to suggest the complaint or lawsuit had been dismissed.
Sunderman, the Memphis professor, said apparently fraudulent claims involving real estate asset disputes crop up more often than people think, especially in situations involving inheritances.
“It’s very difficult for someone to say, ‘Well, no, I didn’t take out that loan, I didn’t sign those papers,’ when they’re dead,’” Sunderman said.
Darrell Castle, a Memphis attorney who is not involved in the case but monitors it, said he frequently sees cases in which elderly people are targeted for fraud.
“I often get cases where people who are really helpless in the final stages of life in a nursing home are victimized financially,” Castle said. “The human mind will think of some way to cheat and steal if it can.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said Thursday that his office was investigating the case to determine whether the estate was the target of fraud.
Skrmetti’s office can investigate and file civil lawsuits, including in cases of alleged consumer fraud. It could turn over evidence of criminal wrongdoing to the district attorney or federal authorities.
Opened in 1982, Graceland quickly became Memphis’ most famous tourist attraction and a landmark for fans of Elvis Presley, the singer, actor and fashion icon who died in August 1977 at age 42. and the large entertainment complex across the street.
Who would target him with a scheme that “collapsed with the first email and phone call, or internet search,” and what loopholes in the legal system allowed him to get closer to the auction than he should have, should be the prosecutor’s focus. -general, said Nikos Passas, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University.
“The chance of success in what they were trying to do — that is, auctioning off the property and making the profits and then using the money — doesn’t seem to be the real intention unless they were incredibly stupid,” Passas said. he said. “So the question is, ‘What was the intention and who was behind it?’”
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Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. AP reporter Heather Hollingsworth contributed from Mission, Kansas.
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