Uncle Nearest Whiskey Receiver Turns Tables on $100M Lender, Alleges It Ignored ‘Obvious’ Fraud Red Flags

(Photo: Uncle Nearest)

The long-unwinding legal drama surrounding Uncle Nearest Whiskey just got a little more complicated. On Tuesday, the company’s court-ordered receiver accused Farm Credit Mid-America — the lender suing Uncle Nearest for over $100 million in defaulted loans — of ignoring financial “red flags” and dishing out nearly $67 million without proper approval.

Up until now, the court has largely focused on allegations against Uncle Nearest and its co-founders Keith and Fawn Weaver. The company’s total debt is estimated at roughly $208 million, approximately $121 million of which is owed to Farm-Credit Mid America. FCMA filed a suit against the Weavers in August 2025, and their company was shortly thereafter placed under the control of court-ordered manager Phillip G. Young Jr.

In a filing made on Monday, Young flipped the tables on FCMA, claiming that the lender repeatedly turned a blind eye to fraud for its own financial gain.

Young’s allegations center around former Uncle Nearest CFO Michael Senzaki, who left the company in 2024 after he was accused of inflating inventory numbers and falsifying financial reports. Between July 2022 and August 2023, Young claims that Senzaki acted as the sole signee on 28 financial requests to FCMA, totaling nearly $67 million. Each request was approved, despite the lack of confirmation or apparent knowledge from Fawn Weaver, the company’s principal decision-maker.

Senzaki later admitted to investigators that he used misappropriated funds to purchase a Las Vegas home, buy vehicles and gamble. The Weavers filed a lawsuit against Senzaki in January, and the revelations surfaced in the new filing appear to add credibility to their case.

“A single telephone call or email to Mrs. Weaver at any point during the thirteen months of drawdowns might have exposed Mr. Senzaki’s fraud. Farm Credit’s failure to make even this minimal inquiry constituted gross negligence and willful blindness,” Young wrote.

“A credit facility exceeding $100,000,000 demands heightened diligence, yet Farm Credit extended tens of millions of dollars without obtaining basic financial verification that is standard practice in commercial lending.”

Young believes that FCMA’s “willingness to overlook obvious irregularities” was more than an oversight. The lender reportedly collected nearly $400,000 in less than a year from Senzaki’s drawdowns. Putting it bluntly, Young wrote: “The more Mr. Senzaki borrowed, the more Farm Credit earns its fees.”

Beyond its failure to implement basic safeguards, FCMA is accused of overlooking documented red flags. FCMA reportedly continued to cash out Senzaki’s requests after the lender’s own inspection revealed material discrepancies of approximately $21 million at Uncle Nearest.

In his filing, Young asked the court to rule against Farm Credit Mid-America on the grounds of gross negligence. If the prayer for relief is approved, FCMA will also be compelled to award compensatory damages and reimburse the cost of attorney’s fees.

It should be noted that Young acts on behalf of the Uncle Nearest company, not on behalf of Fawn or Keith Weaver. The Weavers are currently engaged in a separate lawsuit against FCMA, accusing the lender of leading a “smear campaign” that pushed spurious allegations of missing inventory, financial misconduct, negative cash flow and insolvency.