In Graceland Scam, Identity Thief Steps Forward

Plot using faked documents 'didn't succeed very well,' individual tells 'NYT'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 29, 2024 6:08 AM CDT
Identity Thief Admits Trying to 'Steal' Graceland
Elvis Presley with his girlfriend Yvonne Lime are photographed at his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn., around 1957.   (AP Photo, File)

An alleged identity thief claims to be behind the attempted foreclosure auction of Elvis Presley's beloved home, Graceland. "We figure out how to steal," the individual wrote in an email to the New York Times. "That's what we do." The Times had sent questions to an email address listed in court documents as affiliated with a representative of Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC, the mysterious company that claimed to have loaned Lisa Marie Presley $3.8 million with Graceland as collateral. In a response Friday, the writer claimed to be a leader of a group of "worms" who steal from dead and vulnerable Americans, particularly in Florida and California. The individual described the effort to auction Graceland as a scam, which "didn't succeed very well."

Given the name Gregory E. Naussany in court documents, the writer claimed to be from Nigeria and corresponded in Luganda, a major language in Uganda. A Gregory Naussany had also reached out to news outlets and Graceland's operator last week, saying Naussany Investments would not proceed with its claims on Graceland after a judge questioned the authenticity of documents submitted to the court. A document bearing Lisa Marie Presley's signature appeared to be notarized, but the notary involved claimed never to have met Presley or notarized documents for her. It was then revealed Naussany Investments wasn't a registered company and had listed addresses in court documents that turned out to be post offices, per the AP.

"If this had not been such a high-profile piece of property, they might have gotten away with it," a real estate expert tells the Times of the apparent scam to auction Graceland. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti adds his office will examine the case to "determine the full extent of any misconduct that may have occurred, and identify what we can do to protect both Elvis Presley's heirs and anyone else who may be similarly threatened." (More Graceland stories.)

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