Whiskey plot twist: Uncle Nearest receiver files counterclaim against Kentucky lender
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The receiver alleged Farm Credit enabled fraud to go undetected for years.
- Receiver says Senzaki admitted falsifying reports and forging Fawn Weaver’s signature.
- Receiver says Farm Credit allowed borrowing to reach nearly $67 million without checking.
The receiver running troubled whiskey brand Uncle Nearest has filed a counterclaim against Kentucky lender Farm Credit, alleging that the bank “enabled” financial fraud to go undetected for years.
Farm Credit has not yet filed a response to the counterclaim.
The receiver’s filing came in response the Farm Credit’s original lawsuit against Uncle Nearest, Nearest Green Distillery and Fawn and Keith Weaver, filed in July 2025. The bank alleged at the time that the Weavers had defaulted on more than $100 million in loans and requested a receiver be appointed to run the company.
Since then the spirits company has been mired in spiraling legal cases as the Weavers fought (so far unsuccessfully) to regain control of the company, which is insolvent with more than $200 million in debts.
The Weavers have long blamed both Farm Credit and former Uncle Nearest CFO Michael Senzaki for their financial troubles, but this is the first time that the receiver has alleged Farm Credit is also to blame.
According to the filing, made July 7 in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee, Farm Credit’s “negligence in administering the (loan) ... willful blindness to red flags that should have prompted investigation, including the sole-signatory status of all twenty-eight drawdown requests, the rate of drawdowns at nearly $5,000,000 per month, and the lack of any direct communication with the CEO or majority shareholder” enabled Senzaki’s fraud to “continue undetected for years.”
According to the receiver, Senzaki “exercised nearly exclusive control over Uncle Nearest’s financial reporting systems, loan compliance, and ... interactions with Farm Credit.” Senzaki admitted, during interviews with third-party investigators retained by Uncle Nearest, to falsifying monthly financial reports submitted to Uncle Nearest beginning in 2022.
The receiver said the reports indicate Senzaki admitted to placing Fawn Weaver’s signature on documents without her consent or knowledge, diverted equity interests belonging to Weaver for his personal benefit, fabricated board minutes showing Fawn and Keith Weavers’ approval for unauthorized loans and used misappropriated funds to buy a Las Vegas home, vehicles and gamble.
Farm Credit allowed Senzaki to increase the amount borrowed to nearly $67 million, with a new request every two weeks, without any confirmation from Fawn Weaver, according to the filing.
Senzaki also rerouted funds approved by the Weavers to pay Uncle Nearest vendors to companies he controlled, exploiting a loophole in the bill paying system.
“Farm Credit failed to implement verification procedures that any competent lender would employ,” receiver Phillip G. Young Jr. said in the filing. “Farm Credit’s willingness to overlook obvious irregularities ... allowed Mr. Senzaki to expand the credit facility by more than $30 million and to conceal the true state of (the company’s) obligations until the fraud became impossible to hide.”
Farm Credit failed to request filed tax returns, audited financial statements and other documents, according to the filing.
The Weavers also filed a response to the original Farm Credit lawsuit, denying many of the issues in the complaint. They state in their response that both Fawn and Keith Weaver were terminated from the company on or about June 1, 2026.
