I. This section shall apply to applicants for a:
(a) Facilities license.
(b) Game operator employer license.
II. Any person, association, corporation, or other type of entity applying for or holding a license under paragraph I shall file, with an initial application and every 5 years thereafter, with the attorney general a complete and detailed written statement, signed under oath by the applicant or holder of such license if an individual, or by the officers of the entity, containing the following information:
(a) The name, residence address, and nature of the ownership interest including, where applicable, the number of shares of stock held and if known, how obtained, of every person who possesses an ownership interest in such entity.
(b) The name, address, present principal occupation or employment, and name and principal business of any corporation or other organization in which such employment is carried on of every director, officer, and holder of 10 percent or more ownership interest in such entity.
(c) Such information as the attorney general may prescribe by rule.
(d) Each licensee shall notify the attorney general and the lottery commission of any change of information required by this paragraph within 10 days of such change.
III. (a) The lottery commission shall notify the attorney general of the receipt of an application under this chapter, and in concert and consultation with the attorney general, the lottery commission shall conduct an investigation of the license applicant or holder, any person included in paragraph I, or any person or entity upon whom the license applicant or holder relies for financial support. Any appropriate state or federal law enforcement system may investigate the subject’s financial, criminal, or business background, or any other information which the lottery commission or attorney general may find to bear on the subject’s suitability to be associated with charitable gaming in New Hampshire, including, but not limited to, the subject’s character, personal associations, and the extent to which the subject is properly doing business in the manner in which it purports to operate. When the lottery commission initiates such an investigation, the lottery commission shall report the results of such investigation to the attorney general within 45 days after the initiation of the investigation. The attorney general and the lottery commission shall confer and determine, if in their opinion, such person is suitable to be associated with charitable gaming in New Hampshire and upon a determination that the person is not suitable, the person shall not be issued or continue to hold a license. Notwithstanding RSA 91-A, the results of any such investigation shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure or to public inspection, except that the attorney general shall have sole discretion to determine the extent to which and the manner in which the results may be reported to other state agencies or officials and, if reported, whether such results are to retain their confidential character.
(b) The attorney general may conduct a background investigation described in subparagraph (a) on the attorney general’s motion.
IV. The expenses of the office of attorney general or the lottery commission, if applicable, in conducting any investigation authorized in this section, including the services of consultants, experts, accountants, and other assistants, shall be a direct charge against the applicant or holder. Total expenses for each investigation under this paragraph shall not exceed $5,000, except with the approval of the fiscal committee of the general court.
V. In any investigation conducted pursuant to paragraph III, the attorney general or the lottery commission if applicable, may require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance of witnesses and the production of such correspondence, documents, books, and papers as the attorney general deems advisable, and for purposes of this section, may administer oaths and take the testimony of witnesses. No person shall be excused from testifying or from producing any book or paper in any investigation conducted pursuant to paragraph III upon the ground that such testimony or documentary evidence might tend to incriminate such person; provided that if, after a claim of privilege, the attorney general, in writing, orders such person to testify or produce documentary evidence, that person shall not be prosecuted, punished, or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any act, transaction, matter, or thing which such person, under oath, disclosed or produced. No person so testifying shall be exempt from prosecution or punishment for any perjury committed by such person in such testimony.
Source. 2014, 329:1. 2015, 276:127, eff. July 1, 2015. 2021, 190:3, 6, eff. Jan. 1, 2022.