Sanborn Takes Concord Casino Sale Battle to New Hampshire Supreme Court

Former New Hampshire politician and shuttered casino owner Andy Sandborn contends the state is getting in the way of his getting out of the gaming business. (Image: Elise Amendola / AP)

Former New Hampshire State Senator Andy Sanborn is taking his fight with state officials over the attempted sale of Concord Casino to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, asking the court to determine whether the state broke the law while preventing him from selling the facility.

Lawyers representing Sanborn argue that the state erred twice: both by revoking Sanborn’s gaming license, and then by denying a license to a potential buyer for the casino.

Pandemic Fraud Allegations Lead to Casino Closure

The case against Sanborn began in spring 2023, when the New Hampshire Lottery Commission and the state’s Attorney General’s Office raised concerns over his finances during a standard review of his gaming license. 

In August 2023, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced an investigation into Sanborn and his wife, State Rep. Laurie Sanborn, accusing the couple of misappropriating $844,000 in federal pandemic loans. Most notably, Formella said that $182,000 of that money was used to buy two Porsches and a Ferrari. 

While Sanborn was never charged in connection with that investigation, Formella and the Lottery Commission announced in August 2023 that they were moving to revoke Sanborn’s charitable gaming license. The state forced the closure of the Concord Casino in December 2023. In October 2024, Sanborn was arrested for allegedly lying about his casino revenue to increase a grant from the “Main Street Relief Fund” by more than $188,000.

That arrest only complicated ongoing efforts by Sanborn to sell the Concord Casino and its most valuable asset: a historic horse racing license. While Sanborn attempted to move forward with a sale, he ran into a Sept. 30, 2024 deadline set by the state. 

He gained a temporary reprieve from Administrative Law Judge Gregory Albert, who effectively gave him another 50 days to complete the sale with a prospective buyer, saying that state charities that earn money from New Hampshire casino revenue would benefit from the sale along with Sanborn.

“That Mr. Sanborn would also receive proceeds from the sale does not change the scenario,” Albert wrote at the time. “His possible profit does not change the positive impact that having a casino in that location with a license would have for New Hampshire.”

Sanborn Lawyers Say State Has Blocked Casino Sale

The added time didn’t help the sale come to fruition. In November, the Attorney General’s Office rejected the pending sale to a buyer who was never named publicly. Sanborn’s lawyers blasted the decision, saying the state offered no criticism of the buyer.

“There’s been no question about the buyer’s credentials, the buyer’s personality, the buyer’s reputation,” Adam Katz, one of the lawyers representing Sanborn, said during a November hearing. “So far as we can tell, it seems like the answer is [the state does] not like the order [allowing Sanborn to sell].”

The New Hampshire Lottery Commission and state officials have rejected the idea that they stood in the way of a potential sale.

“This narrative that the state is trying to obstruct and prevent the sale is simply false,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Jessica King said at the November hearing. “[The New Hampshire Lottery Commission] has gone out of its way to ensure that the buyer had all of the things necessary to complete a suitability determination, and thereafter has continued to talk to the buyer.”

Later in November, a judge allowed the Lottery Commission to revoke Sanborn’s gaming license for two years.

Sanborn’s lawyers have expanded on their claims in their filings with the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

“For the first ten months of 2024, NHLC and the AG attempted to undermine Petitioners’ ability to sell their business – that is, to use sabotage to obtain the result (revocation of the license) they had been denied by a hearings officer after a contested hearing,” Sanborn’s team argued in court documents. 

New Hampshire officials have yet to respond to Sanborn’s filing. The state’s Supreme Court has not yet determined whether it will take up the case.