Elvis’ granddaughter fights Graceland foreclosure sale and alleges fraud
By Raja Razek, CNN
(CNN) — Elvis Presley’s granddaughter is suing to stop a foreclosure sale of the late singer’s historic Memphis home, Graceland, scheduled this week, alleging fraud and saying the purported company behind the sale doesn’t exist and has no rights to the property.
Danielle Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis and the current owner of the property, was able to get a restraining order against any sale before a court rules on her application for an injunction, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
Keough filed a lawsuit this month stating that last year, “Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC presented documents purporting to show that Lisa Marie Presley had borrowed $3.8 million from Naussany Investments and gave a deed of trust encumbering Graceland as security.”
Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ daughter and Keough’s mother, died in January 2023. Lisa Marie Presley was the sole heir to Graceland and her father’s estate when he died in 1977, and its overall worth has now reportedly reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“These documents are fraudulent,” Keough’s lawsuit alleges. “Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments.”
The court document also identified a notary in Florida who said she “never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any document for her,” despite her name being on loan paperwork.
The lawsuit alleges Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC “appears to be a false entity created for the purpose of defrauding.”
CNN emailed Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC and received an automated reply, “We are currently out of the office; we will resume normal business hours on Tuesday May 28, 2024.”
When CNN attempted to reach Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC by phone, the number was no longer in service. The business was listed in a court document from Keough’s attorney as being located in Kimberling City, Missouri, but CNN was unable to locate a business in the state of Missouri by that name via the secretary of state’s office. CNN was also unable to locate a business by that name when searching nationwide.
“Naussany Investments has now scheduled a non-judicial sale of Graceland based on the fraudulent deed of trust,” the lawsuit reads. “The sale is scheduled for May 23, 2024. This is an action to enjoin the non-judicial sale.”
According to court documents obtained by CNN, a temporary restraining order was granted on May 15 prohibiting Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC from conducting “any non-judicial sale” of the property.
CNN has sought comment from representatives and attorneys for Keough.
In a statement, Elvis Presley Enterprises, the company that manages Presley’s estate, concurred that Naussany’s claim was illegitimate.
“Elvis Presley Enterprises can confirm that these claims are fraudulent,” the company said. “There is no foreclosure sale. Simply put, the counter lawsuit has been filed is to stop the fraud.”
Graceland is one of the South’s biggest tourist draws and for years was the nation’s second-most visited home after the White House. In 2020, a Presley executive told Rolling Stone that Presley’s estate was worth between $400 million and $500 million.
Lisa Marie Presley annually earned seven figures from it, based on a court filing in her 2022 divorce.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Chancery Court in Shelby County, Tennessee.
CNN’s Joe Sutton, Luciana Lopez and Alli Rosenbloom contributed to this report.
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