Properties foreclosing, Interim CEO departed, employees still waiting for W2s and back pay
CARROLL COUNTY, Tenn. — Three months after Cachengo furloughed its employees, the Carroll County technology company appears to be quietly dissolving. Former employees still haven’t received their back pay or their 2025 W2 tax forms, the company is on its second Interim CEO since November, and properties across the county are moving through foreclosure proceedings.
Most recently, the McKenzie Industrial Development Board filed a notice of substitute trustee, which is the first step toward foreclosing on the former McKenzie Hospital building that Cachengo purchased with a loan of more than $800,000.
Other property owners have already completed foreclosures, including the former salon building on West Main Street in Huntingdon, previously owned by Wanda Townsend, which was foreclosed on Friday.
All of this is happening while Cachengo wages a federal lawsuit against its founder, Ash Young, seeking at least $10 million in damages under racketeering statutes, and Young fights back with his own counterclaim alleging a corporate coup.
Foreclosures Accelerate
The McKenzie Industrial Development Board’s filing is another example in the dissolution of Cachengo’s property holdings. The board financed Cachengo’s purchase of the former hospital building at 161 Hospital Drive with a loan exceeding $800,000.
The Townsend property on West Main Street in Huntingdon completed foreclosure on Friday, and became the latest in a series of properties either reverting to their original sellers or going to different owners altogether. All of Cachengo’s real estate purchases were made through owner-financing arrangements, meaning local property sellers, not bank, are now forced to foreclose when payments stop.
The lawsuit details nine properties that Cachengo claims to own despite being titled in Young’s name or his family members’ names. These properties collectively represent millions of dollars in down payments and ongoing mortgage obligations that the company allegedly made but for which Young’s family holds the titles.
With the company’s operations ceased and no revenue coming in, these properties are being lost one by one to foreclosure.
Still No W2 Forms
Former employees reached out to Carroll County Observer with updates on their situation and shared an internal document from Cachengo’s board of directors.
According to a board letter sent to employees, “Your year-end tax forms have been delayed as a result of an issue we had with our payroll provider, Paychex. That issue has now been resolved, and we are working with Paychex to get your forms distributed as quickly as possible. We expect these forms to be distributed within the next week or two.”
That letter was sent in early February. According to former employees who contacted the Observer, W2 forms still have not been released.
According to information shared with the Observer, Paychex is owed thousands of dollars and W2 forms will not be released until that debt is paid off. The board’s letter did not mention any outstanding debt to Paychex or explain how the issue was “resolved” if W2s remain unreleased.
Without W2 forms, former employees cannot file their 2025 tax returns.
Employers are required by federal law to provide W2 forms to employees by January 31. Companies that fail to meet this deadline face penalties starting at $50 per form if corrected within 30 days, increasing to $120 per form if corrected by August 1, and $310 per form for forms provided after August 1 or not provided at all. Intentional disregard carries a minimum penalty of $630 per form with no maximum.
It is now February 23.
No Assurances on Back Pay
The same letter addressed what many former employees have been waiting to hear about since October: their unpaid wages.
“This remains a work in progress and is a top focus for the Board,” the letter said. “We are working hard on completing a potential transaction that may enable the Company to resolve back-pay to our employees.”
But there was also a caveat.
The letter continued, “We cannot provide any assurances that this transaction will close or that you will receive any or all of your back pay.”
According to internal investigation documentation referenced in previous coverage, Cachengo missed payrolls on October 3, October 17, October 31, and November 15. Employees’ last paychecks came in September, meaning they have now gone nearly five months without the pay that they are owed.
The letter did not specify what the “potential transaction” might be or when it might close. With the company’s operations shut down, its properties foreclosing, and federal litigation ongoing, it’s unclear what assets remain to generate the funds needed to pay back wages.
Another Leadership Change
The board letter also announced the company’s second CEO change since November.
“Paul Swanson has resigned as interim CEO and Board Member of Cachengo and has been replaced on the Board by Dmitry Lipkin,” the letter stated.
Swanson took over as interim CEO after Ash Young was removed on November 7, 2025. His tenure lasted approximately three months. The details surrounding his departure are unclear. The Carroll County Observer has reached out to him, and his reply was “It will make sense soon enough.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lipkin has been with Cachengo since February 2024 in various roles, including Chief Marketing Officer. Part of his tenure was during the period covered by the company’s allegations against Young in the federal lawsuit.
Lipkin now joins a board overseeing a company with no operations, no employees, ongoing federal litigation, and mounting foreclosures.
Carroll County Observer has reached out to Lipkin as well in early February. We received no response.
The Federal Lawsuit
The board letter referenced the ongoing litigation.
It said to employees, “The Company has filed litigation against Ash Young and related parties. That litigation is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Case No. 1:25-cv-3169. Because this is pending litigation, the Company is unable to comment on the case or provide any information not contained in the Court record. But rest assured that the Company is diligently pursuing its rights for the benefit of all stakeholders, including the current and former employees.”
Cachengo’s lawsuit against Young, his wife Janae Young, and daughter Aurora Beaulieu includes five counts: civil RICO, trade secrets misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty, replevin, and declaratory judgment. The company seeks at least $10 million in damages, which could be trebled to $30 million under the federal RICO statute.
The lawsuit alleges that Young and his family systematically misappropriated company funds for personal use, including luxury watches, timeshares, vehicles, and a hobby farm, while making false statements to investors and lenders about the company’s prospects. You can read our previous coverage of the Cachengo lawsuit here.
Young filed a counterclaim on January 12, 2026, alleging he is the victim of a corporate coup orchestrated by disgruntled former employees. His counterclaim asserts that property arrangements were authorized by the board through a February 2022 resolution and that company leadership used fabricated documents to remove him from his position as CEO of Cachengo’s Tennessee entity.
A Company Dissolving?
The picture that emerges is of a company in the seemingly final stages of collapse. Operations have ceased, employees have been furloughed for months without pay, properties are being lost to foreclosure, and leadership has turned over repeatedly. The company could not even pay its payroll provider to release tax forms.
Additionally, The company’s website has been down since the beginning of February. Multiple attempts by Carroll County Observer to reach company leadership, including board members and the email address provided in the board’s letter, have gone unanswered. Aside from occasional emails to former employees stating that nothing has changed, leadership has gone silent.
Meanwhile, Cachengo’s board pursues federal litigation against its founder while he countersues, each side blaming the other for the company’s demise. The “potential transaction” mentioned in the board’s letter remains undefined and uncertain.
Former Cachengo employees now face a mounting list of problems. They cannot file their taxes without W2 forms, several were denied unemployment benefits and food assistance, those who lived in company housing were evicted, and some without a place to go, they have not received their wages since September, and they are now being told there are “no assurances” they will ever receive their back pay.
The company that promised to bring hundreds of high-paying technology jobs to Carroll County and revitalize the area now exists primarily as a legal entity pursuing and defending against federal claims while its physical assets are sold off piecemeal to satisfy debts.
The board’s letter ended with, “If anyone has questions, please contact humanresources@cachengo.com. Sincerely, The Board of Directors.”
Carroll County Observer sent questions to that email address and received no response. The company’s website has been offline since early February.
For employees owed thousands of dollars in back wages, waiting for basic tax documents, and watching the company dissolve around them, the questions keep piling up. Whether anyone at Cachengo will be left to answer them remains unclear.
