Elvis Presley’s Graceland foreclosure sale ‘was a plot by Nigerian scammer’ who preys on the dead and elderly until granddaughter Riley Keough ‘beat me at my own game’

The mysterious company behind a plot to sell Graceland to Elvis Presley’s family claims to be a Nigerian con artist.

Bizarre emails written in a Ugandan language claimed the ring was targeting “gullible” Americans, but the music icon’s family is “beating me at my own game.”

Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC came out last week claiming the King of Rock’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley owed her $3.8 million.

But the attempt was thwarted in Chancery Court in Memphis by Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins after Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough, 34, sought an injunction.

After DailyMail.com subsequently emailed an address in a lawsuit by ‘Gregory Naussany’, he said the attempt to sell Graceland was called off.

What Naussany was and what really happened remained a mystery, as there was no trace of it in the real world – no telephone numbers worked, all the dresses were post office boxes and nothing was registered anywhere.

Then the New York Times received a response from gregoryenaussanyniplflorida@hotmail.com, the address in the lawsuit, claiming the whole thing was an elaborate scam.

“I’m the one causing trouble,” the self-confessed scammer began with the first of two emails on Friday.

He claimed to be the head of a scam network that targeted dead people, the elderly and otherwise unsuspecting Americans.

The birth certificates and other identity documents of ‘gullible’ brands, who mainly lived in California and Florida, were consulted to find out details to make the scam successful.

‘We know how to steal. That’s what we do,” the scammer, posing as Naussany, admitted.

“I enjoyed figuring this out, but it didn’t turn out so well.”

The conman admitted that they had been discovered and that the game was over, and complimented Keough on his victory.

“Your client has nothing to worry about…win her,” they wrote. “She beat me at my own game.”

Seasoned lawyers and real estate experts were baffled by the ruse, calling it “extremely unusual, to the point of unbelievable.”

“They picked the wrong piece of land,” University of Memphis real estate professor Mark Sunderman told the newspaper.

“If this hadn’t been such a high-profile building, they might have gotten away with it.”

The NYT wrote that the emails raised more questions and that the veracity of the claims was difficult to determine.

Every time it tried to clarify the details of the ruse, it was told “you don’t have to understand it,” and the scammer never explained why they owned it.

Translators said the Luganda, a Bantu language spoken in Uganda, in the emails was “awkward” – even though the English in court documents was near perfect.

The court filing was also faxed from a toll-free U.S. number to the Court Chancery Court in Shelby County, Tennessee.

The FBI is believed to be investigating the matter and is “interested” in launching a criminal investigation into the attempted sale.

The bizarre story began in September when Naussany began pursuing Keough, claiming her mother, who died last year, had pledged Graceland as collateral for the 2015 loan and failed to pay by the 2022 due date.

Keough refused to pay, so it offered a “reduced” settlement of $2.8 million and filed a collection claim in Los Angeles court. That didn’t work either.

Naussany responded by placing an advertisement in a local Memphis newspaper announcing that the foreclosure sale on the steps of a Memphis courthouse would take place on May 23, when Graceland would be sold to the “best and highest bidder.”

Keough’s attorney Jeff Germany unraveled the web of lies in court, outlining the “significantly serious allegations regarding the authenticity” of the documents.

Keough’s complaint stated that Kurt Naussany sent her numerous emails to collect her mother’s alleged debt, including a standard promissory note and a 2018 deed of trust for Graceland, both bearing Lisa Marie’s signature.

The papers produced by Naussany included a deed of trust notarized by Kimberly Philbrick, a notary public in Duval County, Florida, who insisted that she “never met Lisa Marie nor notarized any document for her.”

“I do not know why my signature is on this document,” she wrote in an affidavit.

The wording on the trust deed also included an incongruous reference to “online notarization,” which was not authorized in Florida or listed on Duval County paperwork until 2020 – two years after the deed was supposedly executed.

“Although the documents bear signatures that appear to be the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley, Lisa Marie Presley did not, in fact, sign the documents,” the prosecutor pointed out.

“The alleged deed of trust and the deed of trust are products of fraud and the persons involved in the production of such documents are presumed to have been guilty of the crime of forgery.”

Documents mailed by Naussany included the return address of a UPS store in Jacksonville. An address in Missouri was also a post office box.

When DailyMail.com called the phone number listed in Kurt Naussany’s contact information, the line was not in service.

The German version of events went completely unchallenged – because no one from Naussany showed up at the Shelby County Chancery Court to argue against him.

In fact, he told the court he had had “no contact whatsoever” with Nassauny, neither with lawyers acting on behalf of the court nor with alleged boss Kurt Naussany. It is unknown what relationship Kurt and Gregory Nassauny have.

Chancellor Jenkins told the hearing Wednesday that his office received an application overnight from someone calling himself Gregory Naussany asking for an extension.

“It appears to be a one-page facsimile,” he told the proceedings: “The court will deny the request.”

The document called Keough’s claims “baseless” and did not warrant an injunction, and asked for an opportunity to defend himself.

But when contacted by email about the filing, Nassauny said he was “withdrawing all claims with prejudice,” meaning they could not be raised again.

“Because the deed of trust is not recorded and the loan is obtained in multiple states, legal action would need to be filed in multiple states and Naussany Investments & Private Lending will not acquire to proceed,” he wrote in the email.

‘That comes from consultation with the company’s lawyers. “No harm was intended against Ms. Keough due to her mother’s LMP bad habits and mishandling of money (sic).”

Asked to clarify whether he has given up all efforts to pursue the alleged $3.8 million he claims to have loaned to the late Lisa Marie Presley, Nassauny said in a follow-up: “According to counsel, it is in the best interest, as multiple returns would have to be filed. 3 different states. The company no longer wishes to comment.”

According to the FBI’s 2022 Internet Crime Report, approximately 11,827 individuals in the US were victims of property fraud – a small percentage of the 87 million homeowners in the US – but the numbers are growing.