A Missouri woman has been arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud the family of Elvis Presley and steal their ownership interest in Graceland, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday (Aug. 16).

The 53-year-old woman, whose name is Lisa Jeanine Findley but has gone by numerous aliases, has been charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the former charge and a mandatory minimum of two years on the latter; she made an initial court appearance in Missouri on Friday.

“As alleged in the complaint, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland, falsely claiming that Elvis Presley’s daughter had pledged the historic landmark as collateral for a loan that she failed to repay before her death,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, in a statement. “As part of the brazen scheme, we allege that the defendant created numerous false documents and sought to extort a settlement from the Presley family. Now she is facing federal charges. The Criminal Division and its partners are committed to holding fraudsters to account.”

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tennessee on Thursday (Aug. 15), Findley allegedly posed as three different people affiliated with a company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending in claiming that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had used the famed Memphis mansion as collateral to secure a loan of $3.8 million that she failed to repay. She also allegedly fabricated loan documents and forged the signatures of Lisa Marie and a notary public to file a false creditor’s claim with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles and a false deed of trust with the Shelby Country Register’s Office in Memphis. The Justice Department also claims that Findley published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in the Memphis daily newspaper The Commercial Appeal announcing that Naussany Investments would auction Graceland on May 23.

The attempted auction was quickly blocked after Presley’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough — who took over as trustee of Promenade Trust, the entity that controls Graceland, following Lisa Marie’s death in January 2023 — won a court order halting it. Shortly thereafter, Findley allegedly wrote to Presley family representatives, the Tennessee state court and the media to falsely claim that the person responsible for the faud was an identity thief based in Nigeria.

“Fame and money are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on another person’s celebrity status,” said Eric Shen, inspector in charge of U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group (USPIS), in a statement. “In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain. Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners put an end to her alleged scheme, protecting the Presley family from continued harm and stress.”

Sphere Entertainment Co. shares spiked 22.3% this week after the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday (Aug. 14) showed that the Las Vegas venue brought in $151 million in the quarter and $489 million in its first three full quarters of operation. Total revenue of $273 million — a figure that includes MSG Networks — was in line with analyst estimates while earnings per share beat estimates. 

During Wednesday’s earnings call, CEO James Dolan said the company is learning how to get the most out of the $2.3 billion venue with not just concerts but corporate and sporting events and Sphere’s current cash cow, motion pictures. “Our plan for Sphere is to create widespread demand for our offerings and drive utilization far in excess of traditional venues,” Dolan said. 

After hosting residencies by U2, Phish and Dead & Company, Sphere will begin a string of concerts by the Eagles from September to November and will host its first EDM events in December with Italian producer Anyma. Dolan didn’t provide specifics about additional residencies but said to expect an artist in “the country category” in 2025. 

LiveOne’s shares rose 16.3% this week after the Los Angeles-based music streamer announced its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Tuesday (Aug. 13). A 29% increase in paid members, to 653,000, helped revenue improve 19% to $33.1 million from $27.8 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 31% to $2.9 million. 

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 0.7% to 1,780.54 despite most of the stocks gaining and the market enjoying one of its best weeks of 2024 thanks to a host of positive news. Driven by stronger-than-expected retail sales data on Thursday (Aug. 15) and encouraging inflation news earlier in the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 5.3% to 17,631.72 and the S&P 500 finished its best week of the year, gaining 3.9% to 5,524.25. 

The BGMI’s largest companies fell in the middle of the pack. Live Nation shares were up 3.2% to $95.18 and Universal Music Group rose 0.9% to 22.35 euros ($24.66). Among the losers were Warner Music Group, down 0.4% to $28.22, and Spotify, down 0.7% to $337.38.

Stock gains were seen globally. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 1.8% to 8,311.41. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index jumped 4.2% to 2,697.20. China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.6% to 2,879.43.  

Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) dropped 18.8% this week following its second-quarter earnings release on Tuesday (Aug. 13). TME revenues were 1.7% lower as gains in music were overshadowed by losses in social entertainment. Despite the sharp decline, TME shares are still up 16.9% year-to-date.

TME’s latest quarterly results weren’t unlike those that preceded it, with strong music subscription growth at music apps QQ Music, Kugou Music and Kuwo Music helping offset a decline at its karaoke business. While music average revenue per user grew 10% and TME finished the quarter with 117 million music subscribers, the company’s weak guidance on future subscriber growth likely caused its share price to fall. 

JYP Entertainment’s 11.3% decline following its second-quarter earnings results marked the second-worst performance for BGMI stocks. The K-pop company’s revenue dropped 37% due to an 82% decline in album sales. Other K-pop companies experienced lighter declines: HYBE fell 3.4%, SM Entertainment slipped 3.8% and YG Entertainment dropped 1.3%. Those losses deepened the K-pop companies’ already significant losses in 2024. Year to date, the four South Korean companies have lost an average of 34.8% while the KOSPI composite index has gained 1.6%.

Courtney Kramer, the Republican challenger to Fani Willis in the race for Fulton County District Attorney in Georgia, is vowing to end the long-running YSL RICO trial involving Young Thug if she’s elected, according to a statement issued by her campaign on Friday (Aug. 16).

“With no apparent justice in sight, I have become highly concerned and disappointed in the lack of prosecutorial oversight in this case,” Kramer said in the statement. “As time goes on, the public has witnessed a trial that is undoubtedly over prosecuted by attorneys who have repeatedly been admonished for lack of trial prepartion: a complete and utter waste of the court’s time.”

Kramer goes on to blast prosecutors in the case, noting that they were recently “condemned” by new judge Paige Reese Whitaker “for not following the ethical and legal duty to disclose exculpatory evidence that could prove fruitful for the defense, one of the most basic requirements in the courtroom.” She further contends that the case “was brought to bring fame” to Willis, “not to bring justice to the community,” and that it’s resulted in “endless amounts of taxpayer dollars” being spent “on a prosecution that is based almost entirely on witnesses with little to no credibility.”

“If I am elected as the next District Attorney of Fulton County, I promise to end this prosecution immediately,” said Kramer. “I challenge my opponent to do the same thing, the right thing, and end this prosection and release the accused in this case who are being held without bond.”

Representatives for Willis and Young Thug did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.

The YSL case was set into motion in May 2022 when Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) was indicted along with dozen of others over allegations that their YSL was not a record label called Young Stoner Life but a violent Atlanta street game called Young Slime Life. The group of defendants was charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, with prosecutors claiming they operated a criminal enterprise that committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade.

Since his arrest, Thug remained in jail despite multiple calls for his release. On Aug. 8, Judge Whitaker denied requests by Thug’s attorneys to declare a mistrial over the explosive revelation of a secret “ex parte” meeting between the since-removed judge in the case, Ural Glanville, prosecutors and a key witness. Prior to that, she denied their renewed motion to release Thug on bond.

Notably, the trial, which began in January 2023 and resumed on Monday (Aug. 12), is now the longest in Georgia state history; with dozens of witnesses still set to testify, it’s estimated to run well into next year.

You can read Kramer’s full statement here.