Court Ordered Receiver Disputes Fawn Weaver's Uncle Nearest Receivership Claims

This week Uncle Nearest Whiskey owner, Fawn Weaver, announced that Uncle Nearest was out of receivership and that she was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Uncle Nearest's court appointed receiver disputes Weaver's claims and files a motion for sanctions...

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From MC Observer

A federal court-appointed receiver overseeing key Uncle Nearest entities asked a judge Tuesday to sanction CEO Fawn Weaver after she filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions for three company-related entities, arguing she lacked authority to do so under the court’s existing receivership order.

In an expedited motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, receiver Phillip G. Young Jr. said Weaver signed bankruptcy petitions on March 17 for Uncle Nearest Inc., Nearest Green Distillery Inc., and Uncle Nearest Real Estate Holdings LLC despite a receivership order that vested him with the powers of the companies’ officers and managers. He also cited a Dec. 22, 2025, ruling stating that “only the Receiver may represent the Defendant Companies’ interests in this litigation.”

Young asked the court to declare that Weaver was not authorized to sign bankruptcy petitions on behalf of the three entities and to impose monetary sanctions of $25,000 per filing, for a total of $75,000. He said the court should decide whether any sanctions should fall solely on Weaver or also on the lawyers involved in the district court case and the bankruptcy filings.

Weaver publicly declared the receivership was over the same day the bankruptcy petitions were filed. According to the receiver’s motion, that message was amplified through a press release and social media statements announcing the end of the court-ordered receivership. Young said those statements created confusion among customers, vendors, distributors, employees, shareholders, and potential asset buyers, triggering dozens of calls, emails, and texts within hours and having an “immediate and negative impact” on operations and the asset-sale process.

Young’s motion says he is already working, in consultation with the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee’s office, to seek dismissal of what he called the unauthorized bankruptcy cases. He argued that bankruptcy may still be an option for the companies, but said the timing matters because the receivership is still determining which entities are included and is pursuing bids for the companies' assets.

The receiver argues that Weaver’s filings violated the receivership order, interfered with the administration of the receivership estate, and improperly forced the bankruptcy court to confront a question he says the district court has already answered: who has authority to act for the companies.