According to a report yesterday (16 December) from the Concord Monitor, Sanborn filed his appeal in Merrimack County Superior Court. This was expected, as Sanborn’s legal team had vowed to appeal when the state rejected a potential sale in late November.
A prospective buyer had been in place for months, which allowed previous deadlines to be extended. Both the state lottery commission and attorney general’s office conducted suitability reviews. Originally, the state’s rejection was said to be related to the buyer, but it was later clarified that the structure of the sale was at issue. Sanborn’s attorneys claimed that the buyer had worked with the state to appease these concerns, to no avail.
In the appeal, his camp alleges that the state “attempted to intimidate buyers” and caused delays so as to “run out the clock on the revocation deadline”. This intimidation is a reference to Sanborn’s pending legal liabilities. Per state law, any person or business convicted of a felony may not hold a gaming licence for 10 years. The appeal alleges the state suggested that prospective buyers “would face criminal liability”, thereby undercutting the chances of a sale.
It was reported this month that Bettor Investments Inc and Full House Resorts were involved in discussions about the licence. But it is unclear if either was the party that was eventually turned down.
Legal battle became increasingly contentious
The appeal represents the latest chapter in what has been a year-long war between Sanborn and the state. It began last August, when Sanborn was declared unsuitable for licensure by attorney general John Formella. The former is accused of misappropriating $844,000 (£660,846/€803,192) in pandemic relief funds related to the casino. He has yet to be charged in that investigation.
Formella’s office sought a complete revocation of Sanborn’s licence. That was not granted, but last December, Concord Casino was shuttered with a sale deadline of June 2024. That eventually passed and was extended twice more, but by the end of November those too had expired. Sanborn’s gaming licence, which was the true value of the business, is now revoked for at least two years.
Perhaps the biggest turning point of the saga came in mid-October, when Sanborn was arrested on new fraud charges. Those charges stemmed from Sanborn misrepresenting the casino’s gross receipts in order to obtain more relief funds. That then cast fresh doubt on whether his mounting legal liabilities would transfer to the buyer and those concerns were a key reason for the erosion of a deal.
Sanborn and his team have said from the start that the state has done all it can to block a sale. This, they allege, is an attempt to “get even” after Sanborn’s licence was not originally revoked. From the state’s perspective, Sanborn has had ample time to broker a sale and is taking advantage of extensions in order to maximise his profit when the process is meant to punish him.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/casino/land-based-casino-regulation/sanborn-appeals-gaming-licence-revocation/
