New Hampshire Supreme Court upholds Concord Casino licence revocation

A ruling issued on Wednesday, Oct. 28, rejected the appeal brought by Andy Sanborn and Win Win Win LLC, the company that ran Concord Casino in the state capital. The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the revocation of the gaming licence, and it also backed the New Hampshire Lottery and Gaming Commission on two related points: declining to approve a prospective buyer and declining to extend the deadline for Sanborn to sell the business.

State investigators found that Sanborn improperly obtained $844,000 in federal pandemic relief loans, and they alleged that part of the proceeds went toward two Porsches and a Ferrari. That finding led to an order that he sell Concord Casino. The casino shut down in January 2024, and the licence was revoked later after a sale to a buyer approved by regulators was never completed.

A buyer whose identity was not disclosed had reached an arrangement with Sanborn that could have been worth $40 million, but regulators turned down the transaction. Their concerns centred on the buyer's financial capacity and on whether Sanborn would keep a role in the business. The terms called for $10 million up front and another $30 million paid across five years, subject to conditions that included the buyer obtaining authorisation to run historic horse racing machines. Regulators asked whether the buyer could finance the deal and whether the structure would leave Sanborn with substantial influence over the casino.

Sanborn's position was that the sale had been unfairly blocked by regulators, which he said wiped out the value of his business. The Supreme Court found for the commission, concluding that the evidence supported its decisions.

Separate state fraud charges accuse Sanborn of inflating casino revenues by more than $1 million in order to obtain additional pandemic assistance. His federal plea agreement includes a prosecution recommendation of one year and one day in prison, though the court will decide the sentence. Concord Casino's future is now uncertain after the ruling.