Andy Sanborn, a former state senator and owner of Concord Casino, was arrested Wednesday and charged with misappropriating and fraudulently using pandemic relief funds, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office.

The arrest warrant accuses Sanborn of misrepresenting the revenue of his casino in Concord to receive additional money from the state of New Hampshire’s Main Street Relief Fund, an economic support for small businesses during COVID-19. 

“Andy Sanborn distorted the casino’s gross receipts and this falsification resulted in Win Win Win and Andy Sanborn receiving $188,474.33 more in grant monies than the amount to which they were due under the grant formula,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

Sanborn had been under criminal investigation concerning his use of $844,000 in pandemic relief funds obtained by his business, WIN WIN WIN LLC, which operates the Concord Casino. This money, intended for small businesses rather than casinos, was used by Sanborn to finance a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of two Porsche race cars for himself and a Ferrari for his wife, State Representative Laurie Sanborn, an earlier investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and state Lottery Commission found.

That joint investigation accused Sanborn of circumvented regulations by concealing the registered trade name “Concord Casino” on his SBA application. Instead, he used the name “Win Win Win LLC” and categorized the business activity as “miscellaneous.” As a result, he was deemed unfit for charitable gaming and has since been ordered to sell his casino but had not faced criminal charges before Wednesday.

Sanborn’s legal team said the New Hampshire Attorney General’s arrest of Sanborn was a last-minute move to sabotage the sale of Concord Casino.

“The same AG who has been enjoined repeatedly for violations of Mr. Sanborn’s constitutional rights by three NH Superior Court judges, who has had his legal positions soundly rejected time and again by Administrative Law Judges, and whose office is currently facing potential sanctions for prosecutorial misconduct, has now arrested Mr. Sanborn on the eve of a sale to a qualified buyer,” said his legal team. “We are disappointed, but not surprised.  And we remain confident that the NH judiciary will continue to do justice and hold the AG accountable.”

The investigation remains active and ongoing, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Sanborn is involved with several other lawsuits.

He has filed a lawsuit against the New Hampshire Attorney General, claiming that the files and documents obtained by investigators through a search warrant included privileged information, such as attorney-client communications.

His Sanborn’s proposed 43,000-square-foot casino on Loudon Road is now under review by the New Hampshire Supreme Court after a Concord resident appealed a lower court ruling that upheld the Zoning Board’s approval of the project.

Sanborn has also challenged the order requiring him to sell the casino by Sept. 30 or get his license revoked for two years. His attorneys are seeking for another extension to seal the deal with a buyer but the Lottery Commission is fighting against denying the deadline any further.