Elvis Presley's Graceland Safe After Foreclosure Scheme Revealed To Be Fraud

Last week, Elvis fans were stunned when it was reported that his iconic Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee would be sold at a foreclosure auction. Now, Graceland has learned its fate, and fans of Elvis can breathe a little easier.

Graceland’s Fate Is Revealed

People Magazine reported that the lending company that was trying to sell Graceland has officially dropped all claims on the property. A rep for Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough told reporters that one of her attorneys “received an email from Gregory Naussany confirming they do not intend to move forward with their claim.”

“There was no harm meant on Ms. Keough,” someone going by the name Gregory Naussany wrote in an email to Memphis Commercial Appeal.

In a shocking twist, The New York Times has since reported that a ruthless “Nigerian scammer” was behind all of this. Someone based in Nigeria with a Naussany-associated email address took credit for the scam. Later, he boasted that he has a team of people that enjoys scamming vulnerable and elderly people all over the globe.

“We figure out how to steal,” he told the outlet. “That’s what we do.”

“I had fun figuring this one out and it didn’t succeed very well,” he added.

Daily Mail reported that the scammer went on to admit defeat and even to praise Keough for outfoxing him.

“She beat me at my own game,” he stated.

Find out more about this in the video below.

FBI Considering Investigation

In light of this development, the FBI is considering launching a criminal probe and has been in contact with Keough. Meanwhile, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has launched an investigation of his own.

“I have asked my lawyers to look into this matter, 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,” he said in a statement.

In fact, experienced lawyers and real estate agents alike were left shocked by this entire scheme. One said that the scam was “extremely unusual to the point of being unbelievable.”

“They picked the wrong piece of property,” said University of Memphis real estate professor Mark Sunderman.

“If this had not been such a high-profile piece of property, they might have gotten away with it,” he added.

Find out more about this in the video below.

Graceland Targeted

This all started in September of last year, when Naussany began contacting Keough. At first, he sent her messages alleging that her mother Lisa Marie, who died in January of 2023, had used Graceland as collateral on a $3.8 million loan that she never paid back.

Later, Keough fired back by claiming that her mother never took out such a loan. Clearly, she was in the right about this.

Elvis bought Graceland back in 1957 for $102,500. His only child Lisa Marie inherited it when he died in 1977 at the age of 42. When Lisa Marie died in January of 2023, Riley became the heir of the estate.

Located on 13.8 acres, Graceland has become a mecca for Elvis fans. It opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982, and hundreds of thousands of tourists flock there every year. Elvis is buried there, as are his parents and daughter.

Take a tour of Graceland in the video below.

While it’s an enormous relief to see Graceland be saved, it’s also terrifying that a scam like this one could even take place. This serves as a reminder to people of all ages to beware of internet scams of any kind.