In New Hampshire, the tensions surrounding the forced sale of Andy Sanborn’s Concord Casino are continuing to rise. Sanborn originally had a sale deadline of June 27, which was then extended to July 18 and then again to September 30. The extensions were granted because there was evidence that a sale was pending, but the state Lottery Commission and Attorney General’s office have accused Sanborn’s team of stalling.
But at a hearing July 10, his attorneys said it was the state who was stalling and improperly interfering with the sale process. According to the Concord Monitor, one of Sanborn’s attorneys Zachary Hafer said that the issue could be resolved “in 15 minutes” if the state wanted it to be. In response, Assistant Attorney General Mark Dell’Orfano said that that was “a false narrative” and added that “everything that we’ve done has been aboveboard.”
Sanborn, a former New Hampshire state Senator, was forced to sell the casino last December after he was alleged to have misappropriated more than $800,000 in pandemic business relief funds. Casinos were not eligible for such funds but Sanborn did not disclose his casino operations on the applications. He reportedly used part of the money to buy luxury cars and pocketed more than $183,000 for himself, but has not been charged.
A key issue in this process is the revenues the casino generates for the state and for local charities. If the casino does not sell, Sanborn would lose his gaming license and there is currently a moratorium on new license until 2028. There are reportedly a handful of potential buyers, but there are several concerns related to the fraud allegations and other aspects of the process that are holding up a deal.
