Concord Casino, owned by Andy Sanborn, the previous state state senator accused of using dishonestly secured funds from a COVID-19 relief credit to purchase luxurious cars, will be officially closed on January 1st of next year. However, it has permission to reopen after 6 months provided it is formally sold to a new individual, aka new owner, according to a decision made by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission that was revealed to the public on December 28.
A former senator is ineligible to be involved with the state’s charitable gaming business model:
In August, the said Commission attempted to officially cancel the Senator’s gaming license. However, he made a plea against the decision and asked for a hearing in front of an independent inspector. In addition, the aforementioned hearing took place during earlier dates in December, and the final decision was officially issued on December 27.
On a related note, said former Senator is a Republican from Bedford and his aforementioned casino is located within the confines of The Draft Sports Bar and Grill in Concord. He wants to officially open a significantly bigger charitable gaming property just a several miles away.
Despite this, the said Commission asserted that his existing gaming operator’s license must be canceled. The primary reason for this is that he wrongfully secured federal funds, made false statements about how he spent the funds, didn’t keep accurate records overall and paid himself large sums as rent.
Investigation:
The investigation found that Sanborn dishonestly secured $844.000 in financing from the Small Business Administration between the period of December 2021 to February 2022. Charitable gaming properties and casinos weren’t suitable for such credits, so Sanborn left out the name of his facility (Concord Casino), from his application and cited his main business activity as “miscellaneous services,” according to officials.
He is charged of paying $80.000 for a Ferrari for his spouse and $181.000 on 2 Porsche racing cars for himself. He also paid over $183.000 in what he described as rent for his Concord establishments, according to investigators.
As for his decision, Michael King, the aforementioned hearing inspector, said it wasn’t within his jurisdiction to decide whether the credit application was dishonest. However, he also said that filling out said application with “clear false and/or misleading information” was sufficient to formally revoke his license as such an act “undermines the public confidence in charitable gaming.” Furthermore, he dismissed Sunborn’s assertion that the aforementioned cars weren’t bought with credit, stating that there was a “straight line” from receiving the credit to buying the cars. He then pointed out that all 3 cars are American-made, which breaks the conditions of the credit.
The cancellation of the license wasn’t suitable according to King. The main reason for this is that other individuals holding the license were given the chance to officially sell their business operations before cancellations and suspensions, according to AP News.
Failure to attend the hearing:
The former Senator wasn’t present during the hearing due to the medical appointment and didn’t instantly respond when asked for comment. In addition, his attorney claimed that the state’s whole case arose out based of a botched investigation and baseless charges about the said COVID-19 relief credit.
When the charges came to light during August, federal authorities were informed and the state officially opened a criminal inquiry, officials said.