WASHINGTON (AP) — A Missouri woman has been arrested on suspicion of orchestrating a brazen plan to deceive Elvis Presley’s family by try to auction his Graceland villa and his property before a judge stopped the mysterious forced salethe Ministry of Justice announced on Friday.

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, falsely claimed that Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a fake private lender and pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before her death last yearprosecutors said. She then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family did not pay $2.85 million in compensation, authorities said.

Finley posed as three different people who allegedly had dealings with the bogus lender, forged loan documents and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing Graceland’s auction in May, prosecutors said. A judge halted the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.

Experts were astonished by attempting to sell one of the country’s most historic properties using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected of being fake.

Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Across the street from the museum is a large Presley-themed entertainment complex owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The announcement of the charges came on the 47th anniversary of Presley’s death at age 42.

“Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic events in the Presley family to exploit the name and financial situation of the heirs to the Graceland estate and to attempt to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain,” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group.

An attorney for Findley, who used several aliases, was not listed in court documents. A voicemail with a phone number believed to be associated with Findley was not immediately returned, nor was an email to an address prosecutors said she used in the plot.

She is accused of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. The mail fraud charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Her first court appearance in Missouri was expected on Friday.

In May, a public notice about the foreclosure of the five-acre property said the Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million for failing to repay a 2018 loan. Riley KeoughPresley’s granddaughter and actress, inherited the trust and ownership of the house after her mother’s death. Lisa Marie Presleylast year. A lawyer for Keough did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday.

Keough filed a fraud lawsuit, and a judge stopped the planned auction with a temporary restraining order. Naussany Investments and Private Lending – the sham lender that authorities say Findley now created – said Lisa Marie Presley used Graceland as collateral for the loan, the notice of the foreclosure sale said. Keough’s suit alleged that Naussany submitted falsified documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Naussany’s documents, said she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor did she notarize any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit. The judge said the notary’s affidavit called into question “the authenticity of the signature.”

In May, the judge stopped the foreclosure of the popular Memphis tourist attraction, saying Elvis Presley’s heirs could succeed in arguing that a company’s attempt to auction Graceland was fraudulent.

The Office of the Attorney General of Tennessee had investigated the Graceland controversy, then confirmed in June that the investigation had been handed over to federal authorities.

In an email to the Associated Press after the judge halted the sale, Naussany said he would not proceed with the sale because a key document in the case and the loan were registered and obtained in another state, meaning “action would have to be brought in multiple states.” The statement, sent from an email address listed in court documents, did not identify the other state.

After the plot failed, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said. An email sent to the AP on May 25, from the same email as the earlier statement, said in Spanish that the foreclosure attempt was carried out by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets the elderly and dead in the U.S. and uses the Internet to steal money.

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Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.