The person claiming to be a con artist from Graceland admits to trying to sell Elvis Presley's home through a foreclosure auction.
"This individual claims to be a criminal who's taken on many identities and received funds but didn't win them all. They've sent a message to CNN, mixing English with Luganda, a language spoken by millions in Uganda. The email was in response to a request for comment about Naussany Investments and Private Lending, a company involved in trying to foreclose on the famous Graceland mansion.
However, it's uncertain whether the person who emailed CNN is really behind the scheme. The company attempted to foreclose on the property claiming Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of the late singer and Lisa Marie Presley's heir, Riley Keough, failed to pay back a $3.8 million loan she secured before her death in 2023. Keough sued to protect the estate and claimed the company had no right to the property.
The foreclosure sale was halted, and Naussany Investments dropped its foreclosure attempts.
A Confessed Fraudster
CNN reached out to the email listed as the company representative in Keough's lawsuit for a response. That person said their company had no claims against anyone connected to Graceland and advised to reach out to a different email - [email protected] - that belonged to a person claimed to be Gregory Naussany.
Other news sites, like the New York Times, received the same email. A Luganda-speaking expert checked and translated it. Although the scammer knew the language, their sentence structure didn't show they were a native speaker.
CNN has found no evidence Naussany Investments exists.
The phone number shown in court documents was disconnected. The company was listed in a filing as being in Kimberling City, Missouri, but the secretary of state's office had no record of this company when contacted.
The Shelby County Registrar declared, "Naussany Investments & Private Lending, LLC, does not have any filings in the Office of the Shelby County Register of Deeds pertaining to Graceland/Elvis Presley."
The self-confessed fraudster said they were from Nigeria and targeted groups such as the elderly and the deceased. They targeted victims primarily in Florida and California, resorted to using birth certificates for their schemes, according to the New York Times.
"We use innocents and steal identity," said the scammer in a message to CNN.
We can't understand why a scammer would aim for the second most frequented residence in the US, the White House's second, although they admitted, "We figure out how to steal. That's what we do."
Mark Sunderman, a real estate professor at the University of Memphis, said attempting to scam Graceland was a dumb move.
"Why they targeted such a high-profile home, that was extremely foolish. There's no other high-profile property in Memphis other than the Civil Rights Museum." Sunderman added.
Court documents showed Naussany Investments had offered to settle any debts with the Presley estate for $2.85 million, down from the original loan. Sunderman believes the scammer wanted a quick payoff instead of attempting a foreclosure sale on Graceland.
"If they'd gone through the foreclosure process, they'd have faced higher risks and less monetary gain in the long run." He said.
The Tennessee Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, announced on Thursday they were examining the situation for potential fraud."
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