MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A company claims Lisa Marie Presley owed it millions of dollars and wants to force a sale of the famed Graceland mansion in Memphis to pay it off. It’s a claim Elvis Presley’s granddaughter is denying.
An LLC called Naussany Investments and Private Lending claims Lisa Marie Presley, who died in January 2023, borrowed $3.8 million from its company using the deed to Graceland as collateral. According to the latest filing, the company placed a lien on the property and has scheduled a foreclosure sale of Graceland for May 23, 2024.
In a countersuit filed May 15, 2024, Riley Keough, Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, claims the documents alleging the debt are fraudulent. Keough is the trustee for Promenade Trust, according to her filing, which currently owns Graceland.
Keough’s complaint alleges her mother never borrowed money from Naussany Investments, and also claims that the company is not “a real entity.”
“Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC appears to be a false entity created for the purpose of defrauding the Promenade Trust, the heirs of Lisa Marie Presley, or any purchaser of Graceland at a non-judicial sale,” said Keough’s suit.
The countersuit goes on to claim that a deed of trust purportedly signed in May 2018 in Florida was never recorded in Shelby County. It claims the documents which “bear signatures that look like the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley” are forgeries and that Presley never signed any such documents.
Keough’s claim says the notary on the deed confirmed she never notarized a promissory note or deed of trust in Florida in May 2018, nor met Lisa Marie Presley. The complaint also claims a document listed as a promissory note from Florida includes language that was not used in that state before 2020.
Keough is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order against Naussany Investments and any party connected to it from conducting a sale of Graceland. It also asks for a permanent injunction against the company from taking further actions, and for the court to declare the documents as fraudulent.
John Turner, an attorney with The Crone Law Firm said this situation is unique. He claimed the most well known building in the city could be foreclosed on based on the documentation.
"They do have documentation, I mean they've attached a note and a deed of trust that are notarized, however the trust's position is those are both fraudulent," Turner said. "That they are forgery and a forgery can never be used to convey good title."
According to Turner, he's been practicing law for decades. He said as a longtime Memphian he's never seen Graceland in a position that they are in.
"It is very rare that you take on a multi-million dollar entity like the Presley estate and all of its various entities to try to take Graceland," he said.
Fans ABC24 spoke with said they are all shook up over the idea such a remarkable place that means so much to the world could be sold.
"It would be a shame, it would be sad, it would be a loss for the family and Memphis," said Elvis fan Vikki Facenda.
Facenda said the memories of Graceland go beyond the signatures on the wall outside of the property. She said the estate recently began opening more opportunities throughout the year.
"For the first time ever they had a Christmas thing here so for the granddaughter to, nah they can make that, that's chump change. They can make that anyway and pay that off," Facenda said.
The two groups are set to meet in Shelby County Chancery Court Wednesday morning, just a day before the scheduled sale.
ABC24 reached out to Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) and Graceland officials, who said the "claims are fraudulent" and a foreclosure sale does not exist: "Elvis Presley Enterprises can confirm that these claims are fraudulent. There is no foreclosure sale. Simply put, the counter lawsuit has been filed is to stop the fraud."