The DOJ filed charges over a foiled plot to steal Elvis’ Graceland

Last Friday, a Missouri woman with a history of small-time scams and fraud was arrested on federal charges, which accuse her of trying to steal ownership of Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate and swindle Presley’s family out of millions of dollars.

Here’s what happened: In July 2023, six months after Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie Presley passed away, 53-year-old Lisa Findley allegedly sent an email to the attorneys of Elvis’ granddaughter, Riley Keough, claiming her late mother had pledged the Graceland estate/museum as collateral for a $3.8 million loan that Presley failed to pay back before she died.

• When Keough refused to send Findley the $2.85 million she was seeking, Findley published an allegedly fraudulent foreclosure notice and announced plans to auction off Graceland this past May.
• But, unlike Elvis himself, Keough did not leave the building. Instead, she successfully sued to halt the sale of Graceland, with a Tennessee judge ruling Findley’s documents had likely been forged.

👀 Looking ahead… The DOJ’s case against Findley centers around accusations that she acted under several aliases and forged multiple documents for a nonexistent private lender as part of her scheme to steal Graceland. If found guilty, Findley will be singing “Jailhouse Rock” for a period of 2-22 years.

+CORRECTION: This story has been updated from its original version, in which we incorrectly referred to Lisa Marie Presley as Elvis' wife, not his daughter.