FBI reportedly contacts Riley Keough's team about Graceland case as claim is dropped
The Federal Bureau of Investigation may launch a criminal probe into possible fraud allegedly surrounding a now-blocked foreclosure sale of Elvis Presley's famed Graceland mansion, according to TMZ and Radar.
The outlets reported Wednesday that the FBI had contacted actor Riley Keough's team and Graceland officials on Tuesday, allegedly expressing interest in Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC, the company seeking to auction off the building.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told The Times via email that it had not received a request to "investigate from the district attorney general in Shelby County, which would be the mechanism for our potential involvement."
Representatives for Keough did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation and comment.
Keough filed a lawsuit against Naussany Investments last week, alleging that the company had presented fraudulent documents stating that her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley, had borrowed $3.8 million from the company and “gave a deed of trust encumbering Graceland as security.”
The “Daisy Jones & the Six” star stated in her lawsuit — which asked a judge to block the auction of Graceland and to declare that the documents were fraudulent — that “Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments.”
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A Tennessee judge awarded Keough a temporary injunction against the sale on Wednesday. The court also said it would move forward with the fraud case, citing a lack of appearance by Naussany Investments representatives at Wednesday's hearing and the need for additional evidence from Keough's lawyers.
After the ruling, a person purporting to be a Naussany Investments representative submitted a statement that said the company would drop its claims on Graceland, the Associated Press reported.
Elvis Presley Enterprises, which manages the Presley estate, told The Times in a statement Wednesday that business would continue as usual.
“As the court has now made clear, there was no validity to the claims,” the statement read. “There will be no foreclosure. Graceland will continue to operate as it has for the past 42 years, ensuring that Elvis fans from around the world can continue to have a best in class experience when visiting his iconic home.”
Read more:What Priscilla Presley got for giving up Lisa Marie's trust: Graceland burial and $1 million
Keough’s lawsuit, which was reviewed by The Times, said Naussany Investments presented a deed of trust for Graceland and a standard promissory note to the estate via the Los Angeles County Superior Court in September.
The deed of trust contained the signature of Florida notary Kimberly Philbrick, who submitted an affidavit May 8 saying she had no involvement with the documents.
“I have never met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I ever notarized a document signed by Lisa Marie Presley,” Philbrick’s affidavit read. “I do not know why my signature appears on this document.”
Keough was formally named the sole trustee of her mother's estate — and, by extension, of Elvis’ estate — in November after settling a legal dispute with grandmother Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ widow.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
