He’s accused of COVID fraud and under orders to sell his Concord Casino. But former state Sen. Andy Sanborn just raised the bet.
Sanborn filed a new civil lawsuit against New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella in Merrimack Superior Court in Concord on July 30. Sanborn and his legal team are keeping their cards close to their vests. The complaint, as well as nearly all of the filings in the case, are sealed.
Mark Knights, one of Sanborn’s lawyers, declined to comment when contacted by NHJournal. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment as well.
What is known about the case from the publicly available information is that Sanborn is seeking an injunction of some kind, presumably to block the state from taking a particular action. Additionally, the Attorney General’s Office has prosecutors Dan Jimenez, David Lovejoy, and Alex Kellerman assigned to the case. Jimenez is part of the Public Integrity Unit which investigates wrongdoing by public officials. Lovejoy is part of the Criminal Justice Bureau. Kellerman is a former corporate attorney now working for the attorney general.
Sanborn’s legal drama began a year ago when Formella publicly accused Sanborn and his wife, state Rep. Laurie Sanborn (R-Bedford), of COVID relief fraud. According to Formella, the couple took $844,000 in COVID relief payments for their Concord Casino and used the money to pay themselves via rent and buy themselves sports cars.
The Sanborns deny wrongdoing and have yet to be charged with a crime. However, the state pushed to take away the Concord Casino gambling license based on the alleged fraud. In December 2023, Administrative Law hearing officer Michael King found Sanborn engaged in deception when he applied for the COVID loans and that Sanborn spent the money inappropriately.
“The misrepresentations on the EIDL [Economic Injury Disaster Loan] application and the subsequent use of the proceeds for expenditures not allowed by that loan constitute ‘conduct by the licensee that undermines the public confidence in charitable gaming,’” King wrote in his order.
Aside from using the money to buy a Porsche and a Ferrari, Sanborn allegedly paid himself $240,000 with the COVID funds by raising his own rent.
Sanborn owns the Casino through his Win Win Win LLC and he owns the Main Street building where his Concord Casino is located through an entity called The Best Revenge LLC.
The original lease agreement between Win Win Win and The Best Revenge LLC was for $500 a month. But records showed Sanborn was making payments to himself ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 a month for rent.
Sanborn claimed the 40-fold rent increase was due to his casino floor space increasing six and a half percent. While it was alleged Sanborn was diverting COVID money to himself through rent, King found Sanborn’s high rental payments to himself started in 2021 before he received any COVID cash.
Sanborn started making payments in November 2021, ranging from $5,000 to $22,000. Those payments were seen as “wildly excessive” by the state.
Sanborn’s casino license was suspended and he was given six months to sell his business. That deadline has been pushed to the end of September as Sanborn continues to fight with the Attorney General’s Office.
The state has been trying to exert influence over the sale, according to NH Bulletin reporting, while potential buyers have been scared off by the potential criminal charges. Sanborn’s lawyers have accused the state of trying to stop any sale out of spite.
If Sanborn is unable to sell his business by the Sept. 30 deadline, his gaming license will expire, and he would not have a casino business to sell.
Andy Sanborn, who ran a failed bid for the GOP nomination in the First Congressional District in 2018, has a troubled past in politics. He was investigated for alleged sexual harassment of a Senate intern in 2013, though he maintains it was a misunderstanding about a joke.
When Sanborn first got his casino license in 2018, the harassment incident came back. That time he was investigated for allegedly bribing one of the witnesses. He was cleared of the bribery accusation, but the New Hampshire Lottery Commission was concerned about his suitability to hold a license. According to Commission records, one of the 2018 witnesses told investigators she was warned not to be alone with Sanborn when she started her job in the State House.
