It’s a mystery why plans to sell Memphis’ iconic Graceland fell through.
The self-proclaimed investment firm has faced criticism from lawsuits alleging fraud, an aggressive attorney general and Elvis Presley enthusiasts who consider the King of Rock and Roll’s converted mansion-turned-museum a sacred site.
Among the many questions surrounding any attempt to auction Graceland is how common it is for groups to come forward to claim the assets of elderly or deceased people, something experts say is more common than you might think.
“I’ve never heard of a scam aimed at such a prominent institution, so it’s a little surprising in that respect,” said Nicole Forbes Stowell, a business law professor at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, “but I don’t think it’s surprising that it’s targeted ordinary people.”
Nausany Investments and Private Lending Co. caused a stir this month when it posted a notice for the foreclosure sale of the 13-acre (5-hectare) Graceland estate.
According to the notice, the Promenade Trust, which manages Graceland Museum, is $3.8 million in debt after defaulting on a loan from 2018. Riley Keough, actress and Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, passes away in 2023.
In a notice of foreclosure sale, Nowsany said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for a loan. Keough filed a lawsuit on May 15, alleging Nowsany submitted false documentation for the loan in September 2023, and asking a Memphis judge to block the sale to the highest bidder.
“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Nowsunny Investments or delivered a trust deed to Nowsunny Investments,” Keogh’s attorney, Jeff Germany, wrote in the lawsuit.
“This is a scam,” Elvis’ ex-wife, actress Priscilla Presley, declared on her social media accounts.
On Wednesday, Shelby County Mayor Jordy Jenkins issued an injunction blocking the auction, which had been scheduled for the following day. Jenkins said in court that the Elvis Presley estate could prevail in its lawsuit alleging that Nowsani’s auction of Graceland was fraudulent.
One reason is an affidavit from Kimberly Philbrick, a Florida notary public whose name appears on Nausani’s documents. Philbrick says she never met Lisa Marie Presley or notarized any documents for her, according to the lawsuit. The judge said the affidavit called into question the authenticity of the signatures.
Stowell said the signature lines on related documents were incorrect and the documents listed an option for online notarization, which wasn’t allowed in Florida until 2020, two years after the notarization took place.
“We suspect these documents were prepared after Lisa Marie’s death,” Stowell said. “The overall picture is suspicious.”
Mark Sunderman, a real estate professor at the University of Memphis, questioned why the foreclosures would happen now when the loans have not been repaid years after they were made.
“If someone misses a payment or doesn’t make a payment, you can’t just sit back for a few years and say, ‘Now we have to foreclose,'” Sunderman said.
The lender’s legitimacy is also in doubt, as The Associated Press unsuccessfully tried to verify its existence beyond an email address and court documents signed by Gregory Nowsany.
Court documents listed business addresses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Hollister, Missouri. Both were post office addresses, and the Kimberling City, Missouri, address was a post office box address. The company is not listed in state databases of registered corporations in Missouri or Florida.
“I’ve never heard of the business,” Kimberling City Clerk Laura Cather said.
A search of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s online records showed the company was not registered. No representatives for Nausani appeared in court, but the company denied the allegations in the lawsuit and filed a motion to oppose the heirs’ request for an injunction, which was rejected.
After the sale was called off, Nausani issued a statement saying he was dropping the lawsuit because key documents for the lawsuit and loans were recorded and obtained in other states, “resulting in litigation in multiple states.” The statement did not specify which states.
Nowsani did not respond to an emailed interview request from The Associated Press, and online court records do not show any legal documents indicating the allegations or the lawsuit have been dropped.
Sunderman, the University of Memphis professor, said apparently fraudulent claims in real estate disputes occur more frequently than people think, especially in situations involving inheritance.
“It’s very difficult for a deceased person to say, ‘No, I didn’t take out this loan and I didn’t sign this document,'” Sunderman said.
Darrell Castle, a Memphis attorney who is not involved in the case but monitors it, said he often sees elderly people being targeted by scams.
“I see a lot of cases where people in nursing homes are in the final stages of their lives and are really helpless, and are financially harmed,” Castle said. “Humans will figure out ways to cheat and steal if they can.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scurmetti said Thursday that his office is investigating the case to determine whether the estate was the target of a fraud scheme.
Scurmetti’s office can investigate and bring civil lawsuits, including allegations of consumer fraud, and can also turn over evidence of criminal offenses to district attorneys or federal authorities.
When Graceland opened in 1982, it quickly became Memphis’ most famous tourist attraction and a touchstone for fans of Elvis Presley, the singer, actor and fashion icon who died in August 1977 at age 42. Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the museum and the massive entertainment complex across the street.
Nikos Passas, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University, said the attorney general’s focus should be on who targeted the scheme, which “fell apart with the first email, phone call or Internet search” and what holes in the legal system allowed the scheme to be auctioned off closer than it should have been.
“The likelihood that what they were trying to do, which was to auction off properties and take the proceeds and spend the money, doesn’t seem to have been their actual intention unless they were very stupid,” Passas said. “So the question is, ‘What were their intentions and who was behind it?'”
