The attorney general of Tennessee, Jonathan Skrmetti, said Thursday that his office was looking into a private investment company’s attempt to foreclose on Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home, after lawyers for Mr. Presley’s granddaughter sued to stop the proposed sale, accusing the company of fraud.
The announcement came one day after a Tennessee judge upheld a temporary injunction preventing the property in Memphis from going up for auction this week as the company had proposed in court papers.
No lawyers appeared on behalf of the company, Naussany Investments and Private Lending LLC at the Wednesday hearing.
Lawyers for Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, the actress Riley Keough, have argued that the company appears to be a “false entity.” They have also presented an affidavit from a notary public who has denied signing key documents the company has held up as evidence that they are entitled to sell the home.
In a statement, Mr. Skrmetti said his office would investigate the situation.
“There is no home in Tennessee more beloved than Graceland,” he said. “I have asked my lawyers to look into this matter, determine the full extent of any misconduct that may have occurred and identify what we can do to protect both Elvis Presley’s heirs and anyone else who may be similarly threatened.”
Several attempts to reach Naussany Investments through the email addresses and phone numbers listed for the company in the court documents have not been successful.
A representative for Graceland did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday night.
The bizarre case came into wide public view this week when a lawsuit surfaced that had been filed by Ms. Keough. The suit reported that last fall, Naussany Investments filed papers in a California court claiming that Lisa Marie Presley — Ms. Keough’s mother and Mr. Presley’s daughter — had borrowed $3.8 million and put Graceland up as collateral before she died in 2023. Ms. Keough’s suit said Ms. Presley had never borrowed money from the company, and that the documents the company presented as evidence of her doing so were fraudulent.
At Wednesday’s hearing at Chancery Court in Shelby County, Tenn., the judge, Chancellor JoeDae L. Jenkins, said he needed to continue the case. He said the continuance was based in part on the fact that no one showed up in person to represent the company seeking to sell Graceland, and in part because he said lawyers for Ms. Keough needed to present additional evidence.
The court also said that it had received a filing on Wednesday morning from a man named Gregory Naussany who had asked the court to continue the case.
It was not clear when the next hearing would take place.
After the hearing, Jeff Germany, a lawyer for Ms. Keough, said he had not had “any direct contact” with the defendants in the case. He declined to comment on whether lawyers for the estate had asked law enforcement to investigate the possibility of fraud.
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.
