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(Memphis, Tennessee) — Graceland, Famous house in Memphis of the late Elvis Presley, is one of America’s most recognizable residences, second only to the White House. Therefore, the announcement of its public auction in May caused shock and confusion among fans of the legendary musician.

Ultimately, the incident highlighted the growing problem of alleged document fraud.

The scandal began last spring when Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC filed a lawsuit and announced the sale of Graceland, alleging that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ daughter who died in 2023, borrowed $3.8 million and used the property as collateral. .

Actor Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, countersued to block the auction, arguing that Naussany Investments does not exist and has no rights to the property. This alleged criminal plot to steal Graceland from under America’s nose sparked outrage among Elvis fans.

The Memphis mansion is significant and widespread because it has been a sacred place for generations of Elvis fans, from the lovestruck teenagers of the 1950s to those inspired by his legacy today.

“People have been trying to take away from Elvis since Elvis was Elvis,” Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, told “GMA3” co-host Eve Pilgrim. “Elvis was a man. He was a really good person. He treated people very well. He lived here. He liked it here. He died here. He is buried here. His parents are buried here. His daughter is buried here.” Choose someone else. Have a heart, have a conscience. And even if you have neither a heart nor a conscience, know that you will not get away with this.”

Lisa Marie, Elvis’s only child, also lived in the mansion. Her life in the spotlight and tragic death have captivated audiences since the day she was born—as the princess of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Shortly after Elvis’s death in 1977, Lisa Marie became the sole heir to her father’s financially troubled fortune, which at the time included only a few million dollars in cash and Graceland. Lisa Marie’s life seemed to stabilize when she married musician Danny Keogh at the age of 20.

They had two children, Riley and Benjamin Keogh. However, this stability did not last long. She has struggled with drug addiction, marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage, and the tragic suicide of her son Benjamin in 2020.

“We all felt it coming,” Riley Keough said in Lisa Marie’s memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown. “We all knew my mom would die of a broken heart.”

Lisa Marie fiercely defended her family’s legacy. One of her last acts was to endorse director Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 Oscar-nominated film Elvis, insisting it highlighted how her father’s musical success was rooted in his understanding of black culture.

“He loved gospel music and would often sit outside blues bars,” Lisa Marie told ABC News. “He was influenced by it and grew up influenced by it. We had this conversation with Baz and it, you know, showed that this is where he got his influence from, this is where it started for him.”

Lisa Marie made her last public appearance at the Golden Globe Awards on January 10, 2023, when Austin Butler won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Elvis. Two days later she died. The cause of her death was complications from bariatric surgery she had undergone several years earlier.

Her funeral was held at Graceland, and fans lined the streets in haunting reminders of how they mourned her father more than 45 years ago.

“She was buried next to her father and son at Graceland,” said ABC’s Chris Connelly. “You know, the house she loved most.”

Last May, a secretive organization known as Naussany Investments made a shocking discovery, claiming that Lisa Marie used Graceland as collateral for a $3.8 million loan and failed to pay it back.

As a result, the mysterious company announced its intention to sell the property at auction.

“It was entirely plausible to imagine that Graceland could be on the block because of something Lisa Marie did while she was in debt,” Connelly said.

Keogh took her role as trustee of the estate seriously, and her lawyer, Bradley Russell, filed a countersuit.

In the counterclaim, Riley argued that her mother did not borrow anything and that the loan documents were fraudulent.

The investigation into the alleged fraud has stretched far from the famous mansion to Florida, where an unlikely savior lives in the form of notary Kimberly Philbrick. The alleged fake notary seal turned out to be a potential smoking gun.

“We sent our private investigator to find the notary who allegedly notarized these documents in 2018 to interview her and get an affidavit from her saying this never happened, she never notarized anything,” Russell said. .

When a private investigator approached Philbrick at her workplace in Holly Hill, Florida, Philbrick said she was shocked to discover that fraud had been committed in her name. She claimed that she knew immediately that something was wrong; she swore in the affidavit that it was not her signature.

“Have I ever met Lisa Marie Presley? Did I sign the document? Have I notarized it? No, no, no,” Philbrick said.

Based on Philbrick’s testimony, Keogh’s lawyers rushed to court to prevent the sale of Graceland. A judge issued a temporary injunction the day before the item was to be auctioned.

It took almost three months to find the alleged mastermind. In mid-August, Lisa Findley was arrested in the Ozarks. She was detained on August 16, the 47th anniversary of Elvis’ death. Federal prosecutors have charged a Missouri woman with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

They argued that Findley used public and tragic events in the Presley family for personal gain.

Investigators say Findlay used aliases to create fake loan documents and that she published a false foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing plans to auction off Graceland to the highest bidder. Findlay has pleaded not guilty and is in jail awaiting trial. She and her lawyers did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Keogh expressed her intention to preserve Graceland as a museum and home, just as her mother wanted.

“People still come through the house and it’s kind of like a love that just doesn’t stop,” Keough said on WABC’s “Live with Kelly and Mark” in 2023. “And I really like it.”

ABC News Studios’ IMPACT x Nightline: Stealing Graceland will stream on Hulu starting Thursday, October 31st.

ABC News’ Eli Brown, Sasha Pezenik, Jared Kofsky and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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