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Prosecutors involved in the Andy Sanborn criminal probe may have copies of potentially sensitive attorney-client communications.

Sanborn, a former Republican state senator, is at the center of a legal firestorm that began when New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella accused him of COVID-19 fraud last year. 

Sanborn filed a lawsuit in Merrimack Superior Court against Formella’s office this summer, but the pleadings in the case are almost entirely under seal. However, a recent court order from Judge John Kissinger sheds light on at least one aspect of the dispute.

Kissinger ordered prosecutors to explain how documents from Sanborn’s lawyers considered legally privileged ended up with the state’s investigative team. Among other steps Kissinger ordered, he wants the state to provide to the court “factual affidavits on issues related to the past handling of seized documents and materials (including electronically stored information), as well as how clearly privileged documents may have been missed or not properly screened by the taint team,” Kissinger wrote in an Aug. 23 order.

Interior of Andy Sanborn’s Concord Casino visible from locked entrance.

Kissinger’s order indicated there are close to 6,700 documents as part of the discovery in the ongoing investigation thus far. Some of them in a commercial legal database program called Everlaw. Everlaw gives attorneys and law firms the ability to control and share information in large cases, and is frequently used to share discovery.

The order states that a taint team was handling discovery documents before handing them to prosecutors in the investigation. Prosecutorial taint teams are typically prosecutors not connected to the case that is under investigation. The taint team is supposed to read through and examine discovery, removing information considered privileged before giving the rest to the investigating team, or case team.  

Prosecutors have been instructed to provide Kissinger an audit of the state’s activity in the Sanborn Everlaw documents, showing which prosecutor viewed or downloaded any particular document. Sanborn’s legal team is under orders to provide Kissinger legal arguments for why the information should be privileged. 

Communication between lawyers and clients is privileged, meaning it does not have to be disclosed to police or prosecutors. That protection extends to evidence that can be obtained through discovery requests, subpoenas, and even in what is said in sworn depositions. Clients may waive the privilege protection if they choose.

After accusing Sanborn of making false statements in filing for business COVID relief funds, and then spending the part of the money on luxury sports cars, Formella announced his office would instigate a criminal investigation into Sanborn and his wife, state Rep. Laurie Sanborn (R-Bedford.) Both Andy and Laurie Sanborn are owners of Win Win Win LLC/Concord Casino, the business that received $844,000 in COVID money.

Despite the public and damning allegations Formella made last year, neither Sanborn has yet been charged with a crime. Andy Sanborn’s New Hampshire Gaming License was suspended in December after an administrative hearing on Formella’s allegations.

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, including the purchase of a Porsche and a Ferrari. 

“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.

In addition to the sports cars, 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 has until the end of the month under King’s order to sell his Concord Casino or face having the license revoked. Without a license, Sanborn has no casino business to sell. 

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.

Andy Sanborn still had a casino license Tuesday, though that could change by the end of the month.

After two days of hearings in Concord on allegations that Sanborn fraudulently misused $844,000 in COVID relief money for his Concord Casino, a decision on his gaming license is expected by Dec. 31.

Sanborn denies any wrongdoing after a New Hampshire Lottery Commission audit found several concerning payments in Concord Casino’s 2022 financial statements. The commission oversees New Hampshire’s charitable gaming casinos.

Sanborn fought to delay the hearing, which took place Monday and Tuesday, to give his attorneys adequate time to mount a defense. The hearing was originally set to happen in October.

Lottery Commission auditor Leila McDonough testified about finding the purchase of two Porsches and a Ferrari listed in the statements as business expenses. The Ferrari was reportedly a gift for Sanborn’s wife and business partner, Rep. Laurie Sanborn (R-Bedford). Concord Casino also reported spending tens of thousands of dollars on car parts, again as business expenses. 

According to the financial statement, Sanborn also paid $163,500 for rent between January and August 2022, averaging about $20,000 a month. But, all that money was going to Sanborn.

Sanborn’s casino business is organized as the Win, Win, Win LLC, which pays rent to The Best Revenge LLC, the Sanborn business entity that owns the Main Street building in Concord. According to court records, the 2018 lease agreement on file between Win, Win, Win LLC and The Best Revenge LLC calls for $500 a month in rent, or about $6,000 a year.

Neither Andy Sanborn nor Laurie Sanborn testified during the license hearing. Andy Sanborn is reportedly dealing with a serious illness and was getting medical treatment in Boston on Monday. 

Casino operator Andy Sanborn wants to take his chances in front of the state Lottery Commission, but his odds aren’t looking good.

The former GOP state senator has decided to publicly challenge charges that he stole COVID relief money and used the cash for sports carts and other luxuries.

Sanborn is set to appear before the New Hampshire Lottery Commission on Oct. 3 to appeal Executive Director Charlie McIntyre’s decision that he is too corrupt to own and operate a casino in the Granite State. Concord recently approved a second casino and a microbrewery, which were part of a planned Sanborn development.

But now the scandal-plagued Republican may lose his license to operate a gambling business altogether.

Sanborn is accused of misappropriating $844,000 in pandemic relief tax dollars while operating a casino at his Draft Sports Bar and Grill, which he owns along with his wife, state Rep. Laurie Sanborn (R-Bedford). The allegations against her business partner forced her to give up her position as chair of the state’s new commission reviewing practices in the charitable gaming industry.

McIntyre sent Sanborn a letter on Aug. 31 laying out the findings of the commission’s investigation. According to a statement released by Attorney General John Formella, Sanborn “fraudulently applied for and received at least one Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), with loan proceeds of $844,000. Further, investigators obtained evidence indicating that after receiving those taxpayer dollars, Mr. Sanborn used them to purchase at least three race cars: two Porsche 987 Cayman S racers for his personal use, and a Ferrari F430 challenge racer as a gift for his wife, Rep. Laurie Sanborn.”

Sanborn also allegedly used COVID money to make 27 years’ worth of prepaid rent payments on another business he owns.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are now looking into Sanborn’s practices. According to Formella’s statement, that includes “a review by the Public Integrity Unit of the actions of all of the individuals and entities involved.” That would presumably include Laurie Sanborn.

Andy Sanborn’s checkered political career includes a bribery investigation after he allegedly made a “crude joke” to a Senate intern in 2013. After the joke was made, the exact nature of which has never been revealed, the intern was given a full-time job in the Senate and an envelope with $200 in cash.

Five years later, an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office did not result in any charges, and Sanborn denied any wrongdoing.

“No one in the room was offended by the joke,” Sanborn said in 2018. “No complaint was filed. Case closed. If that’s news, so be it.”

Sanborn threatened a college student in 2014 via email after the student, one of Sanborn’s constituents, sent an email asking Sanborn to support marijuana legalization. A clearly irked Sanborn called the student “a college freshman who just wants to get high at any cost” and implied he would get the student’s scholarship revoked.

“I’m thinking if I call the [organization you received a scholarship from] and ask their opinion on legalization, they may have a different opinion (not to mention may be asking you for their scholarship money back…).” Sanborn wrote.

Sanborn made a failed bid for Congress in 2018 after serving in the state Senate for eight years.