An accountant testifies before the Harness Racing Commission.

AUGUSTA (AP) – The topic turned to finances Wednesday as Maine’s Harness Racing Commission heard more testimony on Bangor racino applicant Shawn Scott.

Christian Smith, an accountant whose report to the commission questioned Scott’s ability to pay the $100,000 annual cost of running the Bangor harness racing track, changed his mind under questioning by Scott lawyer Martin Gersten.

Smith, a certified public accountant from a Maine firm, said in an Oct. 30 letter to the commission that Scott’s Bangor Historic Track “does not have adequate financial resources” to operate the track.

“Mr. Scott himself has limited cash,” Smith’s letter said.

But responding to Gersten’s questions Wednesday, Smith acknowledged the Las Vegas businessman’s net worth is no less than $48 million.

Gersten asked Smith if, after hearing Wednesday’s testimony, he was convinced Scott “has the financial wherewithal” to run the Bangor track.

“Yes,” Smith responded.

Earlier in the day, one of the authors of an investigatory report on Scott said he didn’t turn up any positive information about the slot machine applicant during his probe, but didn’t look for any either.

“It wasn’t something that was a priority to look for,” Henry Jackson told the racing commission before completing his testimony during the hearing’s second day at the Augusta Civic Center. Scott is expected to testify, but his lawyers said they aren’t sure when that will be. The five-member commission will decide whether to grant a harness-racing license to Scott, who also has racing and gambling operations in other states.

Unless Maine’s gambling law is changed, as Gov. John Baldacci proposes, the license would allow Scott to install slot machines at the Bangor Raceway.

Jackson, the racing commission’s executive director, was shelled Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with a barrage of questions by Scott attorney Stephen Langsdorf, who sought to depict the Scott background report as one-sided and superficially researched.

Referring to documents about a legal case against Scott, Langsdorf asked Jackson whether he investigated “the underlying facts about this lawsuit” before documenting it in the report.

“I think the commission can review this document and draw its own conclusions,” Jackson answered.

In a section that touched Scott’s dealings in Louisiana, a document cited state police claims that Scott was “uncooperative” during an investigation into his background.

Langsdorf asked Jackson whether he had probed further into the specifics of the state police claims to weigh their veracity before including them in the background report. Jackson said he had not.

In earlier questions, Langsdorf sought to show that Scott and his business enterprises had been given far more scrutiny than other harness racing applicants in Maine. Scott’s Capital Seven LLC is prime owner of the Bangor track, one of two commercial tracks in the state.

Ruth McNiff, who is presiding over the hearing, told Langsdorf several times his questions were repetitious.

“I think the commission members have got where you’re going and would like you to go somewhere else,” McNiff told him at one point.

Ed MacColl, attorney for Scarborough Downs, objected to another series of questions, saying, “I don’t think we’re advancing anything here.”

Scarborough Downs also wants to run slot machines at its track to inject new life in a fading sport, but local voters have rejected the idea.

The southern Maine track is now wooing voters in nearby Westbrook and Saco.

In a Nov. 4 referendum funded largely by Scott, Maine voters decided to allow commercial harness racing operators licensed for 2003 to operate slots provided local voters give their consent.

Bangor voters have approved a racino and the City Council approved a contract allowing Scott to create a $30 million gaming and entertainment complex at the half-mile dirt oval at Bangor Raceway.