The chief of Concord Casino, Andy Sanborn, who also happens to be a former senator of New Hampshire, had his hearing postponed for a second time recently. The rescheduling of the hearing with the Lottery Commission happened after Sanborn’s legal defense team argued that his current health condition did not permit him to adequately respond to the charges of utilizing COVID-19 relief funds for personal uses.
The Concord Monitor publicized the news of Sanborn’s lawyer, Zachary Hafer, recently verifying the seriousness of his illness. “We’re currently navigating an array of medical appointments and dealing with the resulting side effects. While I would prefer not to delve further into specifics, let’s just say that his condition is indeed severely debilitating,” Hafer expressed.
In addition to his client’s health issues, Hafer also highlighted his recent involvement in the case and the concurrent need for more preparation time to get fully acquainted with the particulars of the case. With the voluminous amount of documentation and facts related to the investigation against his client, he requested an additional two-month adjournment.
“We are pleading for an extension of precisely two months, which simply accounts for roughly a quarter of the overall duration of the investigation. We believe this is perfectly justified under the circumstances. This adjournment will provide us the opportunity to suitably counter these charges,”
Zachary Hafer, legal counsel representing Andy Sanborn
The most recent adjournment signals the second time the hearing between Sanborn and the Commission has been delayed. The probing against the erstwhile Senator was initiated in anticipation of the expiry of his gaming operator license, slated for December 31, 2023. As per the investigation details, he was deemed unfit to continue holding a gaming license in New Hampshire. However, in the scenario that the Commission’s hearing leads to a decision of Sanborn’s unsuitability for a gaming license, he still retains the right to challenge the decision before the Supreme Court.
Exploitation of COVID Relief Funds for Personal-Pleasures
The exhaustive eight-month-long investigation against the ex-Senator led to the revelation that he has allegedly pulled $844,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds illegitimately. The charges against him state that Sanborn used this money to feed his life of luxury, even going as far as procuring high-end sports cars for himself and Laurie Sanborn, his wife. He is believed to have masked personal expenses as commercial transactions, deceivingly transferring around $183,500 into his personal accounts.
The prevailing regulations do not permit companies like casinos to reap the benefits of COVID relief funds. However, according to the probing, it seems Sanborn made devious attempts to hide his company’s true identity. Instead of launching the application under Concord Casino, the filing was done through an entity named Win Win Win LLC. As per the investigation claims, the functioning of his enterprise was depicted as miscellaneous.
