Uncle Nearest, a whiskey brand founded by Fawn Weaver and her husband, Keith, is now under a federal investigation, according to The Tennessean.

As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the whiskey brand has been under a receivership since August 2025 after the company defaulted on more than $108 million in loans to its lender, Farm Credit Mid-America. The Weavers have pointed to the company’s former chief financial officer, Mike Senzaki, as the cause of the company’s financial challenges. The Tennessean reported that Senzaki has not yet been criminally charged.

Phillip G. Young Jr. is the receiver of Uncle Nearest and manages the company’s assets, including its distillery in Shelbyville, TN, as well as its real estate holdings, intellectual property, affiliated ventures, and related entities. It did not initially include Fawn Weaver’s investment firm, Grant Sidney, Inc., which is the largest shareholder of Uncle Nearest and in which Fawn is the majority owner.

Young also requested that the receivership be extended, out of concern that the distillery could be at risk of foreclosure by the lender, according to a separate article from AFROTECH™. Young stated in February that Uncle Nearest was insolvent and was at risk of being shut down altogether without ongoing lender support.

U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley, who is presiding over the case, stated that Uncle Nearest owes $207.9 million and that the company’s value is less than that amount. Some of that debt is tied to a $20 million loan from MP-Tenn LLC, otherwise known as MarcyPen, according to the Moore County Observer. Page 27 of the court document states that Uncle Nearest “concealed its dealings with MP-Tenn LLC from Farm Credit and misrepresented the source of $20 million it obtained from MP-Tenn.” The document also noted that proceeds from the two $10 million convertible promissory notes were deposited into a CalPrivate Bank account, which was later moved to a separate CalPrivate account owned by Grant Sidney, Inc.

“Since the source and flow of the MP-Tenn funds has come to light, Grant Sidney has argued that “[t]he structure of the funding through [its] account was known to and approved by Farm transaction, or any transaction for that matter, crossed the all-important line between tax avoidance and tax evasion,” the court document read. “But while the evidence shows Farm Credit knew Grant Sidney was disbursing funds for Uncle Nearest’s benefit, it does not reflect that Farm Credit knew the MP-Tenn convertible promissory notes were the source of those funds.”

The Weavers and Grant Sidney have been fighting the receivership, even though U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley ruled it should remain in place. The recent order also expanded the receivership to include Grant Sidney, Inc., and won’t include any additional entities for now.

“Uncle Nearest is insolvent,” Atchley wrote in his 62-page order, according to The Tennessean. “It engaged in fraudulent conduct through its former CFO and through the help of (Fawn Weaver’s investment firm) Grant Sidney and Fawn Weaver. Without a receiver, Farm Credit’s collateral would be at risk.”

Additionally, a May 26 court filing revealed that Uncle Nearest is now being investigated by federal authorities. The Tennessean reports that Young has hired a law firm to advise on how to respond to the federal investigation.

“The Receiver hereby states that he has retained Sims Funk PLC to advise the Receiver on responding to a federal investigation,” Young’s attorney said in the filing, according to The Tennessean.

Details of the federal investigation are unclear at the time of this writing. Keith sees a third party looking into the matter as a positive sign.

“Transparency is a good thing,” Keith Weaver told The Tennessean.