The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and the state Lottery Commission say Andy Sanborn, owner of a Concord bar and casino and a former state senator, fraudulently obtained $844,000 in COVID-19 relief money and used it on luxury personal expenses, including the purchase of three race cars for himself and his wife, Rep. Laurie Sanborn.
Prosecutors further allege Sanborn, 61, of Bedford, paid himself $183,500 that he claimed were rent payments, by funneling the money into a business he owned.
Regulators also allege Sanborn, who ran as a Republican for the state’s 1st Congressional District in 2018, improperly used $28,800 in COVID money to pay for engineering and consulting services related to a new casino he plans to build on the outskirts of Concord. Sanborn currently runs a casino — called Concord Casino — out of a bar he owns in the city’s downtown.
“. . . [T]he Lottery Commission and the Attorney General have each made a preliminary determination that neither [Concord Casino] nor Mr. Sanborn is suitable to be associated with charitable gaming in New Hampshire,” wrote Attorney General John Formella in a letter released Thursday.
The Lottery Commission is moving to revoke Sanborn's gaming facility license and game operator employer license; he has 10 days to appeal the decision.
Sanborn, meanwhile, denies any wrongdoing. In a statement emailed to NHPR, he said he acted with “due diligence” throughout the COVID relief process.
“While I strongly disagree with the Commission's statements, I welcome the examination ahead as I have full confidence our actions were transparent and in complete accordance of the law," he wrote.
Sanborn’s alleged misconduct was revealed as part of a required review of charitable gaming operators by the state Lottery Commission and the Civil Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Justice. Formella says his office has opened up a separate criminal investigation into Sanborn, and has also referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors say Sanborn acted in a “knowing and willful” manner to defraud the federal Small Business Association to obtain a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
Specifically, he omitted his businesses’ trade name — “Concord Casino” — on the loan application. He also characterized his primary business activity as “Miscellaneous Services” and “Other Management Consulting Services.”
“Without these misrepresentations, the Licensee would have been barred from receiving . . . federal funds as the charitable gaming business is ineligible for such funds under federal law,” Formella wrote.
The findings come as Sanborn seeks to expand his gambling operations in the capital city, and as his wife chairs a key State House committee reviewing the role of charitable gaming statewide.
In June, the city of Concord approved Sanborn’s proposal to build a new 43,000 square facility on Loudon Road. That project called for table games, a poker room, slot machines, a restaurant and space for live music. It remains under legal challenge on the grounds the public lacked adequate notice prior to the vote by the city’s planning board.
Meanwhile, Rep. Laurie Sanborn was recently chosen to lead a 13-person legislative commission to review New Hampshire’s gambling laws in the state, including whether charities are getting a fair share of the revenue generated by gaming.
She did not respond to a request for comment.
