(MEMPHIS, Tennessee) — Graceland, the Iconic Memphis House of the late Elvis Presley, is one of the most recognized residences in the United States, only surpassed by the White House. That is why the announcement of its public auction in May caused shock and confusion among fans of the legendary musician.

Ultimately, this incident highlighted the growing problem of alleged deed fraud.

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

Actor Riley Keough, daughter of Lisa Marie, responded by filing a countersuit, seeking to enjoin the auction by alleging fraud and alleging that Naussany Investments was non-existent and had no rights to the property. This allegedly criminal plot to steal Graceland from under America’s nose caused outrage among Elvis fans.

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

“People have been trying to take something away from Elvis since Elvis was Elvis,” Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, told “GMA3” co-host Eva Pilgrim. “Elvis was a human being. He was a really good human being. He treated people very well. He lived here. He loved it here. He died here. He’s buried here. His parents are buried here. His daughter is buried here. Pick someone else. Have a heart, have a conscience. And even if you don’t have a heart or a conscience, know that you won’t get away with it.”

The mansion was also the home of Lisa Marie, Elvis’s only daughter. Her life in the spotlight and tragic death have fascinated audiences since the day she was born, as the princess of the King of Rock and Roll.

Shortly after Elvis’ death in 1977, Lisa Marie became the sole heir to her father’s financially troubled estate, 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 Keough at the age of 20.

They had two children, Riley and Benjamin Keough. However, that stability did not last. She battled drug addiction, marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage, and the tragic suicide of her son Benjamin in 2020.

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

Lisa Marie fiercely defended her family’s legacy. One of his last actions was to approve director Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated 2022 film “Elvis,” insisting that it highlights how his father’s musical success is based on his appreciation of black culture.

“He loved gospel music and would sit outside blues bars,” Lisa Marie said in an interview with ABC News. “He was influenced and raised by this. We had this conversation with Baz that, you know, showed that that’s where he got his influence from, that’s where it started for him.”

Lisa Marie made her last public appearance at the Golden Globes on January 10, 2023, when Austin Butler won best actor for his portrayal of Elvis. Two days later, she died. The cause of his death was reported as complications from bariatric surgery he had undergone several years earlier.

His funeral was held at Graceland with fans lining the streets, eerily reminiscent of how their father was mourned more than 45 years earlier.

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

In a shocking revelation last May, a secret entity known as Naussany Investments claimed that Lisa Marie used Graceland as collateral to obtain a $3.8 million loan and had not repaid it.

Consequently, the mysterious company announced its intention to auction the property.

“It wasn’t completely far-fetched to imagine that Graceland could be on the block because of something Lisa Marie had done when she was in default,” Connelly said.

Keough took seriously her role as trustee of the estate and her attorney Bradley Russell, who filed a countersuit.

In the countersuit, Riley claimed that her mother did not borrow anything and that the loan documents are forgeries.

The investigation into the alleged fraud ranged from the iconic mansion to Florida, where unlikely notarized savior Kimberly Philbrick lives. An alleged false notarial seal emerged as irrefutable evidence.

“We sent our private investigator to find the notary public who supposedly legalized these documents in 2018 to interview her and get a sworn statement from her saying this never happened, that she never legalized anything,” Russell said.

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

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

Relying on Philbrick’s affidavit, Keough’s attorneys rushed to court to block the sale of Graceland. A judge issued a temporary injunction the day before the auction was scheduled to take place.

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

They allege that Findley exploited the tragic public events of the Presley family for his personal benefit.

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

Keough expressed his intention to preserve Graceland as a museum and home, just as his mother would have wanted.

“Still to this day, people walk by the house and there’s this, like a kind of love that just doesn’t stop,” Keough said on WABC’s Live with Kelly and Mark in 2023. “And I really love that.” .

ABC News Studios’ “IMPACT x Nightline: Stealing Graceland” streams on Hulu starting Thursday, October 31.

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

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.