This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Andy Sanborn, a former New Hampshire state senator and owner of the now-shuttered Concord Casino, faces time in prison after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of misusing pandemic relief funds.
Appearing before Judge Landya McCafferty at the U.S. District Court in Concord, Sanborn admitted to diverting more than $255,000 in COVID-19 relief money from the federal government for personal use, including buying himself a sports car.
Federal prosecutors allege that Sanborn wired $48,750 of those funds to an individual in Florida to purchase a 2006 Porsche Cayman.
“This casino owner must’ve thought he hit the jackpot when he got more than a quarter of a million dollars set aside to keep businesses afloat amid a pandemic battering our economy,” said Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, in a statement. “But the odds and the FBI finally caught up with him when he misused that money for his own financial gain.”
Plea deal
Under the terms of his signed plea agreement, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of one year and one day, a term McCafferty indicated she’s inclined to follow. She also said that, with good behavior, Sanborn could serve as little as roughly 10 months.
The charge carries a statutory maximum of up to 10 years in federal prison. At the sentencing hearing, arguments will be made and guidelines for his sentences will also be set.
Sanborn is also required to surrender his passport and any document that would allow him to travel internationally.
Signing a plea deal means Sanborn waives his right to a grand jury.
Sanborn, 64, also must pay full restitution of $255,231.72, according to the plea.
Initial investigation
The federal charge comes nearly three years after an eight-month state investigation first exposed that Sanborn had fraudulently obtained federal pandemic loans for his casino business.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella made a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office after the state’s investigation concluded. The federal case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The state investigation found that Sanborn purchased two additional luxury vehicles, including one he gave to his wife, Laurie Sanborn, a former state representative, who was present at the plea hearing.
Federal prosecutors also agreed not to pursue criminal charges against either Laurie Sanborn or the Concord Casino under the plea deal.
During the COVID-19 emergency, Sanborn applied for and received $844,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan funding from the Small Business Administration on behalf of Win Win Win, the company that owned and operated Concord Casino.
The loan program was designed to provide working capital to small businesses struggling through the pandemic.
Sanborn and his attorneys have also spent the last few years disputing similar fraud allegations at the state level.
Sanborn and his company, Win Win Win, still face separate state theft charges tied to New Hampshire’s Main Street Relief Fund program. State investigators allege that some pandemic relief funds were used to pay off the mortgage on a private lakefront property in Laconia owned by his wife.
Jury selection is scheduled for September, with the trial currently set for February.
