Founded in 2017, Black-owned whiskey brand Uncle Nearest has made a permanent mark in the alcohol world. The company’s name sake, Nathan “Nearest” Green, was a former enslaved Black man credited with showing Jack Daniel the whiskey ropes. Generations later, his legacy is fortified with the now-billion dollar brand. But it’s all at risk after Uncle Nearest was hit with a massive lawsuit.
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It’s been three years since the Nearest brand was deemed the fasted growing whiskey brands in American history. Now, the company is being accused of defaulting on loans totaling $100 million.
In late July, a Kentucky-based agricultural financial company called Farm Credit Mid-America filed the suit, which was obtained by WSMV. They alleged the company’s co-founders Fawn and Keith Weaver, borrowed money but suddenly stopped making payments. This– coupled with other alleged shady business dealings– has prompted the suit… and that’s just the beginning.
The suit claims the Nearest Brand received the first loan in July 2022 worth $35 million. Soon, the loan increased to a total $67 million. Additionally, Farm Credit says they also loaned $20 million and $15 million. For any billion-dollar company, loans of this magnitude are common. But what’s not common, according to Farm Credit, is a company lying about collateral to get approved for the loan.
The financial company alleged in the documents that the Nearest brand gave them “apparently inaccurate Borrowing Base reports with respect to the whiskey barrels that constitute a majority of the Lender’s collateral.” According to their alleged agreement, if Uncle Nearest ever stopped making payments no their loans, which including interest totals $108 million, then Farm Credit could claim 77,000 barrels of whiskey as collateral. But in truth, Nearest owns $20 million less than what they originally reported.
Not only that but Farm Credit also alleged Uncle Nearest borrowed $2 million to invest in a new property. And instead of keeping the property in the Uncle Nearest name, the Weavers allegedly created another LLC, which Farm Credit cannot access.
In response to the 700-page filing, the co-founders called the lawsuit “salacious and inaccurate.” Weaver went as far as to post a video on Instagram, throwing shade at all the hate they’ve been receiving recently. “Dang… you’ve got to be doing something really big for people to spend their energy writing hit pieces,” she wrote in the caption.
They also filed a formal response to the suit claiming Farm Credit was well aware of– and agreed to– the company pausing loan payments. This recommendation to do so was in direct response to Uncle Nearest’s former Chief Financial Officer being fired months ago.
In addition to the $100 million, Farm Credit is asking the judge to order a receiver– a third party who would take over the Nearest company to sort the legal matter– but the Weavers aren’t having it, according to Tullahoma News. Now, a judge has issued a gag order on all parties until the matter is resolved in court.
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