By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – A judge ruled Thursday in ex-senator Andy Sanborn’s favor preventing the Lottery Commission from holding a hearing Friday regarding his license to operate his Concord Casino.
Judge Martin Honigberg issued a temporary restraining order against the Lottery Commission and its chairman Debra M. Douglas preventing the hearing from taking place after a Merrimack Superior Court hearing Thursday in which the public was not given prior notice.
The Lottery Commission hearing was originally scheduled for Oct. 3 after the commission and Attorney General John Formella found Sanborn, a Republican, unfit to hold a charity casino operator’s license. The hearing was then rescheduled to Oct. 13, with no reason given.
Friday’s hearing was still listed on the Lottery Commission’s website Thursday night. (The website was updated to note the postponement at about 9:40 p.m. Thursday.)
Formella said in a news release Aug. 31 Sanborn was unfit to hold a casino owner’s license alleging he committed COVID-19 relief fraud by accepting a $844,000 federal COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan and buying three race cars with the money and other allegations.
Complaints filed against the Concord Casino also claim prizes were lowered during games, there were discrepancies in donations to charities, some earned less than the 35 percent of gross revenue state law requires, there was a sliding scale for rent charge to charities, surveillance cameras were inoperable at times or had wrong time stamps and table game dealers made errors.
On Thursday, a Webex hearing was held in Merrimack Superior Court in Concord which was not noticed to the public.
Judge Honigberg wrote in his temporary restraining order Thursday: “Having considered the written filings, plus the Defendants’ Order that was issued on Oct. 11, 2023; and the oral arguments, the Court finds and rules that the Motion should be GRANTED and that a temporary restraining order should issue to prevent tomorrow’s hearing.
“Defendants are hereby enjoined from holding the administrative hearing in the Matter of Win Win Win, LLC d/b/a “Concord Casino,” NHLC Docket No. Lot 23-018, which is currently scheduled for October 13, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.,” Honigberg wrote.
Honigberg directed the parties to schedule a hearing within 10 days to decide whether to extend the order.
“The Court is not deciding the other issues raised by Plaintiffs in their motion papers,” Honigberg wrote.
Those motion papers and other documents were not available Thursday night.
State regulators conducted a statutorily required review of Sanborn between Jan. 3 and Aug. 18, and on Aug. 30 Attorney General Formella informed the commission he had determined Sanborn was not suitable to hold a charity gaming license.
Sanborn’s proposed larger charity gambling facility on Loudon Road in Concord was recently approved by the Concord Planning Board, but the decision is being litigated by neighbors of the proposed facility.
Sanborn’s wife, Rep. Laurie Sanborn, R-Bedford, is Speaker Pro Tem of the New Hampshire House, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and was appointed chair of a study commission reviewing recent changes to charity gambling that included increasing the waging limit from $10 to $50 and the per game limit from $150 to $2,500.
She resigned as chair of the gaming study commission after regulators announced that her husband was unfit to hold a casino license.
Formella said his office has opened a criminal investigation, including a review by the Public Integrity Unit of the actions of all of the individuals and entities involved.
Formella also made a criminal referral to the United States Attorney’s Office – District of New Hampshire.
Reporter Garry Rayno contributed to this report.
