Business
Failed Graceland Sale By A Mystery Entity Highlights Attempts To Take Assets Of Older Or Dead People
Memphis, Tennessee – The cause for the failed attempt to sell off the historic Graceland property in Memphis is unknown.
The self-proclaimed investment corporation is also under assault from a lawsuit alleging fraud, an aggressive attorney general, and a community of Elvis Presley devotees who regard the king of rock and roll’s home-turned-museum as sacred ground.
Among the numerous problems raised by the attempt to auction Graceland is how frequently cases arise in which an entity forms to seize the assets of the elderly or deceased. Experts believe it is more common than one might expect.
Failed Graceland Sale By A Mystery Entity Highlights Attempts To Take Assets Of Older Or Dead People
“I’ve never heard of a fraud against such a well-known institution. So it’s a little shocking from that perspective,” said Nicole Forbes Stowell, a corporate law professor at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus. “But I don’t think it’s surprising to everyday people that are the targets.”
This month, Naussany Investments and Private Lending sparked a sensation by posting a public notice for a foreclosure auction of the 13-acre (5-hectare) Graceland estate.
The notification stated that Promenade Trust owns the Graceland museum and owes $3.8 million for failing to settle a 2018 loan. Riley Keough, an actor and Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, passed away in 2023.
According to the foreclosure sale notice, Naussany stated that Lisa Marie Presley utilized Graceland as loan collateral. Keough filed a complaint on May 15, alleging that Naussany supplied fake loan documents in September 2023 and requesting that a Memphis judge prevent the sale to the highest bidder.
“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments,” Keough’s attorney, Jeff Germany, stated in the lawsuit
“It’s a scam,” Elvis’ former wife, actor Priscilla Presley, claimed on her social media pages.
Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued an injunction on Wednesday, halting the sale that was set to take place the next day. Jenkins stated in court that Elvis Presley’s estate may be successful in proving Nausanny’s plan to auction Graceland is false.
One explanation is an affidavit from Kimberly Philbrick, a Florida notary whose name appears on Naussany’s documents. According to the lawsuit, Philbrick stated that she had never met Lisa Marie Presley or notarized any documents for her. The judge stated that the affidavit called the signature’s legitimacy into question.
Failed Graceland Sale By A Mystery Entity Highlights Attempts To Take Assets Of Older Or Dead People
According to Stowell, the signature blocks on the pertinent documents were incorrect, and the documentation refers to an online notarization option that Florida did not acknowledge until 2020, two years after the alleged notarization
“That makes me wonder if these documents were created after Lisa Marie passed away,” Stowell stated. “The whole thing does not pass the smell test.”
Mark Sunderman, a real estate expert at the University of Memphis, questioned why the lender would foreclose if it had yet to receive payments for years.
“If someone starts missing payments or hasn’t made a payment, you’re not going to sit around for a couple of years and then say, ‘Golly, I think we need to foreclose now,'” Sunderman stated.
The lender’s credibility is also in doubt following The Associated Press’s unsuccessful attempts to authenticate its existence beyond an email address and a court document signed by Gregory Naussany.
Court filings listed corporate addresses in Jacksonville, Florida and Hollister, Missouri. Both were for post offices, while the Kimberling City, Missouri, mention was for a post office box. In addition, the company needs to be recorded in Missouri or Florida’s state databases of registered corporations.
“I’ve never heard of that business,” Kimberling City Clerk Laura Cather remarked.
A search of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s web databases revealed no registration for the company. No Naussany representatives appeared in court despite the firm filing an unsuccessful move to dismiss the lawsuit’s charges and oppose the estate’s request for an injunction.
After the sale was blocked, Naussany stated that it would withdraw its claim since a significant document in the case and loan was recorded and received in a different state, requiring “legal action to be filed in multiple states.” The statement did not mention the other state.
Naussany has yet to respond to the Associated Press’s email interview requests. Online court records showed no legal documents indicating the claim or action had been abandoned.
According to Sunderman, a Memphis professor, fraudulent allegations involving real estate asset conflicts occur more frequently than people realize, particularly in inheritance cases.
“It’s very difficult for someone to say, ‘Well, no, I didn’t take out this loan, I didn’t sign these papers,’ when they’re dead,'” Sunderman stated.
Darrell Castle, a Memphis attorney who is not engaged in the case but is monitoring it, said he frequently encounters cases in which elderly individuals are the victims of fraud.
“I get cases quite often where people who are really helpless in the final stages of life in a nursing home are financially victimized,” Castle stated. “The human mind will think of some way to cheat and steal if it can.”
Failed Graceland Sale By A Mystery Entity Highlights Attempts To Take Assets Of Older Or Dead People
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said Thursday that his office investigated the issue to see if the estate was targeted for fraud.
Skrmetti’s office can investigate and file civil actions involving alleged consumer fraud. It may turn over proof of criminal activity to the district attorney or federal authorities.
Graceland, which opened in 1982, immediately became Memphis’ most well-known tourist destination and a mecca for followers of Elvis Presley, the singer, actor, and fashion icon who died in August 1977 at age 42. The museum and the big entertainment complex across the street attract hundreds of thousands yearly.
The attorney general should focus on who would target it with a scheme that “fell apart with the first email and phone call, or internet search,” as well as what gaps in the legal system allowed it to go closer to the auction block than it should have. Remarked Nikos Passas, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University.
“The chance of succeeding in what they were trying to do — that is, to get the property auctioned off and get the proceeds and then use the money — doesn’t seem to be the actual intent, unless they are incredibly stupid,” Passas stated. “So, the question is then, ‘What was the intent, and who was behind it?'”
SOURCE – (AP)
Business
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows 3rd-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
Washington — Chewy shares fell about 2% overnight Wednesday after a regulatory filing showed that Roaring Kitty, a meme stock trader, sold his interest in the online pet retailer.
According to a beneficial ownership document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, sold all his Chewy shares, totaling 6.6% of the company.
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows Third-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
Plantation, Florida-based Chewy dropped 1.9% after hours to $26.19 per share.
Gill, an investor at the core of the meme stock craze, bought more than 9 million shares of Chewy in July, making him the company’s third-largest stakeholder.
Gill built a name for himself in 2021 by rallying ordinary investors around GameStop. At the time, the video game shop was fighting to stay in business, and major Wall Street hedge funds and investors were betting against it or shorting the stock. But Gill and those who agreed with him altered GameStop’s direction by purchasing thousands of shares despite practically all acknowledged criteria indicating that the firm was in deep peril.
Chewy Slides After Filing Shows Third-Biggest Shareholder, ‘Roaring Kitty,’ Sold His Stake
That triggered what is known as a “short squeeze,” in which large investors who had bet on GameStop were obliged to buy its swiftly increasing stock to offset significant losses.
Gill has expressed confidence in GameStop Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen’s ability to revamp the company following his success at Chewy. Cohen cofounded Chewy in 2011 and stepped down as CEO in 2018.
SOURCE | AP
Business
Canada CBC News CEO Catherine Tait Recalled to Parliamentary Committee
Canada CBC News reports that MPs have voted to recall CBC CEO Catherine Tait to a Commons committee for questioning, only a week after her last appearance, over the awarding of $18 million in bonuses to Canada CBC news executives.
The Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois, and the NDP joined forces to re-invite Ms. Tait, her successor Marie-Philippe Bouchard, and Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge to appear before the Commons Heritage Committee.
Ms. Tait, who will relinquish her position as CEO and president of CBC/Radio Canada in January, addressed the committee last week. The House of Commons has passed a motion recalling her before the conclusion of her term, and she is now subject to an additional two hours of interrogation, which includes inquiries regarding bonuses.
MPs also resolved to summon Quebec broadcasting executive Marie-Philippe Bouchard, appointed as the new chief of CBC/Radio-Canada last week, to appear before she begins her new job following a House of Commons chamber debate.
Catherine Tait Exit Package
Catherine Tait rejected the Conservatives’ requests to deny an exit package, including bonuses, when she departed the position in January during last week’s committee hearing.
She also defended the award of $18.4 million in incentives to 1,194 staff members for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which concluded in March, following the broadcaster’s achievement of performance indicators.
Kevin Waugh, a Conservative committee member who introduced the motion, stated that his party aimed to ensure Ms. Tait was “accountable to taxpayers” before her departure in January.
He informed The Globe and Mail that “Canadians are dissatisfied with the bonuses” and that Catherine Tait‘s exit package, which will not be disclosed, is a cause for concern.
“I am apprehensive that she has not received her bonuses in over two years, and that the Minister of Heritage or Privy Council will lavish her with bonuses when she departs in January,” he stated.
The Liberals opposed a portion of the motion that claimed that “the Liberal threat to cut funding” had resulted in the elimination of hundreds of jobs at CBC/Radio-Canada.
Defunding CBC News Canada
The Heritage Minister informed The Globe that the claim was “hypocritical,” as the Conservatives intended to completely defund CBC.
“The Conservatives’ actions today are a clear example of hypocrisy.” Ms. St-Onge stated that performance bonuses increased by 65% during the Harper Conservatives’ tenure, while CBC News Atlantic Canada experienced substantial budget cutbacks.
“As a government, we do not require any lessons from a party that has pledged to reduce the funding of CBC/Radio-Canada and the 8,000 jobs associated with it during its campaign.”
During the Tuesday debate, NDP MP Niki Ashton stated that her party endorses the “banning of executive bonuses” at CBC News Atlantic Canada but is opposed to “the Conservatives’ full frontal attack” on the broadcaster.
She stated, “We require a robust public broadcaster, but not one that distributes executive bonuses and eliminates positions.”
If the Conservatives establish the next government, they intend to deprive the CBC of public funding while maintaining French services.
Catherine Tait defended CBC and rebuffed MPs’ assaults during last week’s committee hearing. “It is evident that the members of this committee are making a concerted effort to discredit the organization and vilify me,” she stated.
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Canada’s Income Inequality Rises to its Highest Level Ever Under Trudeau
Business
Boeing, In Need Of Cash, Looking To Raise Up To Approximately $19B In Offering
Boeing plans to raise $19 billion in stock offering as the aerospace giant deals with a controversial strike, confronts liquidity concerns, and seeks to raise funds.
Boeing Co. announced Monday that it will issue 90 million ordinary stock and $5 billion in depositary shares. The company’s stock finished at $155.01 on Friday.
The business stated that the net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, such as debt repayment, working capital expansion, capital expenditures, and finance and investments in its subsidiaries.
Boeing, In Need Of Cash, Looking To Raise Up To Approximately $19B In Offering
Fitch Ratings said on Monday that the sale promotes debt repayment and increases financial flexibility, lowering the likelihood of a downgrade. The agency continued to assess Boeing’s capacity to resolve labor disputes and regain operational momentum. It gives Boeing a “BBB-,” the lowest investment-grade rating.
Last week, Boeing plant workers rejected the company’s latest contract offer and extended a six-week strike that halted production of its best-selling jetliners.
According to local union leaders in Seattle, 64% of members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted opposed to accepting the proposal.
The labor impasse comes amid an already difficult year for Boeing, which was the subject of various federal probes when a door panel blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Boeing, In Need Of Cash, Looking To Raise Up To Approximately $19B In Offering
The walkout has deprived the corporation of much-needed revenue from delivering new planes to airlines. On Wednesday, the business announced a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion. Boeing has not had a profitable year since 2018, and Wednesday’s results were the second-worst quarter in the company’s history.
The corporation burnt roughly $2 billion in cash in the quarter, weakening its balance sheet, burdened with $58 billion in debt. Chief Financial Officer Brian West stated that the company will not achieve positive cash flow until the second part of next year.
Boeing shares fell marginally in noon trade. They’ve lost 40% of their worth so far this year.
SOURCE | AP
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