CNN received an email from someone claiming to be involved in a scheme to steal Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland in Memphis. The self-proclaimed scammer admitted to stealing identities and receiving money, although the true identity of the person behind the email remains uncertain. The scheme involved a company called Naussany Investments and Private Lending attempting to foreclose on Graceland due to a $3.8 million loan that Elvis’ daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had supposedly taken out before her death in 2023, using the mansion as collateral.
Elvis’ granddaughter and heir, Riley Keough, filed a lawsuit alleging fraud and protecting the estate from being auctioned off by Naussany Investments. The auction was ultimately blocked, and the foreclosure efforts were dropped by the company. The person posing as a representative of Naussany Investments denied having any claims against anyone affiliated with Graceland and directed CNN to a separate email address belonging to a Gregory Naussany, who responded to CNN’s inquiries. However, the existence of the company remains unverified, and efforts to locate it in court documents and state records have been unsuccessful.
The email sent to CNN was in a mixture of English and Luganda, a language spoken primarily in Uganda. A translator found that while the apparent scammer knew the language, their writing style indicated a lack of full fluency. The person claiming responsibility for the scam told the New York Times that they are based in Nigeria and targeted vulnerable groups, using sensitive documents like birth certificates to facilitate their schemes. The motivation behind targeting Graceland, the second most visited residence in the US after the White House, remains unclear.
Mark Sunderman, a real estate professor at the University of Memphis, criticized the decision to target such a high-profile property like Graceland, calling it “very stupid.” He believes that the goal may have been to quickly pay off the claimed debt with a reduced settlement, rather than successfully foreclosing on the mansion. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced an investigation into possible fraud related to the matter, while the Shelby County District Attorney did not respond to CNN’s inquiry about a potential criminal case. The scammer admitted to using innocent individuals and stealing identities as part of their schemes.
Despite the claims made by the person behind the email, there is a lack of evidence to validate the existence of Naussany Investments as a legitimate company. The phone number listed in court documents was not in service, and state records showed no business registered under that name. The Shelby County Registrar confirmed that there were no filings related to Graceland or Elvis Presley made by Naussany Investments & Private Lending, LLC. The case has attracted attention due to the high-profile nature of the property and the audacity of targeting such a well-known estate.
