New criminal charges against Concord Casino could threaten its potential resale

A week after indictment former state Sen. Andy Sanborn on charges of pandemic relief fraud, the Attorney General’s Office announced Friday that it has brought identical charges against his Concord casino.

The new allegations pose the biggest threat to Sanborn’s ability to sell his casino. A conviction on the theft charge will result in the casino being denied a gaming license for 10 years. While it’s unclear whether the same loss of license will carry over to the new owner, the Attorney General’s Office declined to assure Sanborn’s buyer that it would not.

Conviction will also have consequences for the state. Concord Casino has access to the last available historic horse racing license to offer slot-like games for at least the next seven years. Lawmakers put a moratorium on new licenses this year to give the relatively new market time to grow.

While the state shares in all of the revenue from charitable gaming, historic horse racing brings in far more than table games such as poker and blackjack. In August, the state collected about $640,000 from table games and $2.7 million from historic horse racingaccording to the New Hampshire Lottery Commission. These revenues are used to finance public education.

The Prosecutor General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Sanborn’s attorney, Zachary Hafer, accused the state of trying to block the sale by filing charges against the casino separately from Sanborn.

“Given that Win Win Win is a single-member LLC with Mr. Sanborn as its sole member, the Attorney General cannot (and does not) claim that Win Win Win engaged in any conduct other than that of Mr. Sanborn,” Hafer wrote in e-mail. “Therefore, there is only one reason to charge Win Win Win: to try to block the sale of Win Win Win, which would benefit the taxpayer, charities and the local community. This is deeply concerning and we look forward to holding the CEO accountable in court.”

Sanborn is scheduled to be arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court on Tuesday.

He did not publicly name his buyer, although his lawyers said the person had applied for a gambling license. The buyer has been waiting for the state’s decision on his application since at least September.

The charges charge Win Win Win, the casino’s registered name, with theft by deception and theft by unauthorized taking. State accused Sanborn on the same charges for the same alleged activity earlier this month.

Charges announced Friday allege the casino defrauded the Main Street Relief Fund, a federal pandemic relief program, of nearly $190,000 in 2020 by misrepresenting its losses to claim a larger payout. As a result, state prosecutors say the casino received $286,600, $188,474 more than it should have received.

The charges also allege that the casino misrepresented that it had been in business for at least a year, a requirement for compliance, when it had not.

These charges are different from The state has launched an investigation into the fraud in Sanborn almost 14 months ago.

In that case, the attorney general’s office alleges Sanborn misrepresented the nature of his company to obtain nearly $844,000 in economic disaster loans, another pandemic relief fund that was not open to casinos. The state also alleges Sanborn used the money to enrich himself, including spending $181,125 on race cars, two Porsches and a Ferrari.

Neither Sanborn nor his casino have been charged in connection with this investigation. But the case prompted the New Hampshire Lottery Commission and the Attorney General’s Office to strip the gambling license last year.

Instead, the administrative law judge hearing the case suspended the casino’s license and ordered Sanborn to close the business by January. Sanborn has been trying to get a deal done ever since. The judge set a September deadline for the sale, but the judge who took the case this year gave Sanborn extra timecurrently without a clear deadline.

In September, Judge Gregory Albert ruled that the damages to charities that benefited from the partnership with Concord Casino were significant enough to give Sanborn more time to sell. In its final year of existence, the casino gave nearly $170,000 in revenue from Concord Casino last year to nearly 30 charities before the state shut it down in December.

The attorney general’s office is appealing Albert’s findings.