Geno Marconi used his authority as the New Hampshire Ports Director in an attempt to drive a rival business out of Rye Harbor, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday in Merrimack Superior Court.
The lawsuit, brought by the owners of the popular Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, may shed light on the criminal charges against Marconi and the scandal that’s ensnared his wife, Associate Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz-Marconi.
Rye Harbor Lobster Pound owners Sylvia Cheever and Nathan Hansom claim Marconi has been trying to bounce their business for years in order to aid his sister, Francesca Marconi Fernald, who operates Geno’s Chowder & Sandwich Shop, a restaurant started by their parents.
According to the lawsuit, Geno Marconi made it impossible for customers to park at the Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, interfered with its business relationship with local lobster fishermen, and imposed a unique “concession fee” shakedown.
“The series of actions taken against Rye Harbor Lobster Pound were driven by Marconi’s desire to harm a competitor to his family business and in retaliation against the Plaintiffs who were not part of Marconi’s network of allied businesses and individuals who worked for or were otherwise connected with the Port Authority,” the lawsuit states.
The concession fee, which took effect in 2023, was a 10 percent tax on RHLP’s gross monthly revenue. In total, the PDA forced RHLP to hand over more than $115,000 in 2023 and 2024.
According to the lawsuit, no other harbor business pays a similar fee at that rate.
“Upon information and belief, no other business was subject to a concessions agreement which required to payment of so-called concessions fees during this time period,” the lawsuit states.
RHLP has been operating since 1996, and selling prepared food since 2005, according to the lawsuit. The business, like others in the same location, has paid the same $1,000 fee for its right to operate at the harbor, which is controlled by the PDA.
Another business in the harbor which sells prepared food, Rye Harborside, pays the $1,000 minimum fee to operate. Rye Harborside is owned by Granite State Whale Watch, which has connections to Marconi, the lawsuit states.
“Granite State Whale Watch is owned and operated by Sue Reynolds and her son Pete Reynolds. Sue Reynolds’s partner is Leo Axtin, who at all times relevant to this complaint was the Rye Harbor Master and reported to Marconi as the port director,” the lawsuit states.
Marconi began the campaign against the RHLP in 2020, according to Cheever and Hanscom’s lawsuit, after the business managed to succeed despite the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the lawsuit. Marconi began by trying to force RHLP to stop selling chowder. He failed.
In 2021 the PDA, with pressure from Marconi, refused to grant RHLP a concession agreement for the 2021 season, according to the lawsuit.
Following a public outcry, then-Gov. Chris Sununu stepped in and granted RHLP a waiver to operate. Marconi then had state employees monitor RHLP, Cheever, Hanscom, and their customers, taking videos and keeping a daily activity log, according to the lawsuit.
In subsequent years, the PDA and Marconi reportedly required RHLP to hire security details, undertake building renovations, and remove outdoor seating. Now, Cheever and Hanscom are concerned the PDA will try to block them from operating for the 2025 season.
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction against the PDA allowing Cheever and Hanscom to operate without being subjected to arbitrary rules and without paying Marconi’s shakedown money. They also want monetary damages for the harm Marconi and the PDA reportedly did to their business.
Marconi was suspended last year by the PDA as the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office opened its criminal investigation into his sketchy behavior. He’s since been indicted for allegedly leaking private driver’s license information and destroying evidence. Marconi recently filed paperwork to retire from his state job.
This isn’t the first time Marconi’s been the subject of a work-related controversy. In 2006, Marconi was accused of misusing public resources for his own benefit, taking improper gifts like lobsters and liquor in his role as ports director, and using racist slurs about a ship captain trying to do business with the state.
A subsequent drive-by shooting at the home of one witness who complained about Marconi has gone unsolved. No one was ever charged for shooting or other threats made against witnesses. Marconi has denied involvement.
