A Missouri woman has been arrested on charges related to an alleged scheme involving the fraudulent sale of Elvis Presley's iconic Graceland property in Memphis, as announced by the Justice Department. The accused, a 53-year-old woman from Kimberling City, Missouri, is said to have orchestrated a plan to unlawfully claim the Presley family's ownership interest in Graceland.
The allegations suggest that the woman falsely asserted that Presley's daughter had pledged the property as collateral for an unpaid loan prior to her passing. It is claimed that the defendant went to great lengths to fabricate multiple false documents and attempted to extort a settlement from the Presley family.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, described the scheme as brazen and highlighted the creation of fraudulent documents as part of the elaborate plan.
Despite the seriousness of the accusations, no attorney representing the accused woman was identified in court documents. Efforts to reach out for comment via an email address associated with the defendant were reportedly unsuccessful.
Earlier this year, a judge intervened to halt the foreclosure sale of Graceland, acknowledging the potential for fraudulent activity in the attempted auction of the cherished Memphis landmark. The estate of Elvis Presley was deemed likely to succeed in challenging the legitimacy of the sale.
Following an investigation by the Tennessee attorney general’s office into the Graceland controversy, federal authorities took over the probe in June. The case has since led to the arrest of the Missouri woman and the unveiling of the alleged fraudulent scheme surrounding the sale of the historic Graceland property.
