Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest co-founders sue ex-chief financial officer alleging fraud, forgery and misconduct

The lawsuit, filed in Bedford County, Tennessee, comes as the Weavers and the beloved whiskey brand have been in a receivership from the lender.

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey co-founders Fawn and Keith Weaver are going on the offensive.

According to The Lynchburg Times, the Weavers, alongside Grant Sidney Inc., are suing the company’s former chief financial officer, Mike Senzaki, accusing Senzaki of financial misconduct, up to and including inflating the company’s whiskey barrel inventory, which led to a $24 million credit increase from the company’s lender, Farm Credit Mid-America.

The Weavers also accuse Senzaki of abusing his power as chief financial officer, changing invoices to divert funds, concealing liabilities, fraud, forgery, defamation, breach of loyalty and other offenses. In the lawsuit, filed in Bedford County, Tennessee, Senzaki was entrusted with the company’s finances during a period of significant growth and “manipulated systems to conceal millions of dollars in vendor liabilities,” giving the appearance that the company was financially healthy.

In July 2025, Uncle Nearest was placed in receivership as a result of a lawsuit filed by Farm Credit Mid-America, which claimed that the fast-growing whiskey brand had defaulted on over $108 million in loans. A judge ordered Tennessee attorney Phillip Young to have broad authority to manage, preserve, and, if necessary, sell company assets. The Weavers could continue to market the brand, but given the nature of Senzaki’s alleged misgivings, the couple has sustained personal losses.

Fawn Weaver, who didn’t receive a substantial cash salary from the company, lost out on over $1 million in speaking engagements and, according to the lawsuit, had her personal equity in the company leveraged by Senzaki for his own personal gain. The couple also claims that Senzaki painted the picture that they were to blame for the company’s financial straits, despite the Weavers not having applied for personally guaranteed loans with Farm Credit Mid-America.

The Weavers are demanding a jury trial and are seeking ompensatory and punitive damages, plus injunctive relief to prevent Senzaki and other unnamed defendants from transferring or hiding assets that could support their claims of misconduct.

In December, Fawn Weaver addressed a viral confrontation with a former middle school classmate of hers during a bottle signing event in Georgia. After receiving some public backlash and later apologizing, Weaver and the man reconnected and performed a skit re-enacting the viral awkward encounter, except with the roles reversed.

“We had a great connect over cigars and Uncle Nearest shortly after the viral video,” Weaver detailed in a video uploaded to Instagram. “And we shared what we remembered. But that didn’t actually help until I saw a 6th grade yearbook pic and then knew who he was, as he looks nothing now like he did then. That said, he’s a super cool person and I’m happy he reconnected me with people from 35+ years ago.”