AUGUSTA – Most of the character witnesses called Thursday to attest to Bangor racino developer Shawn Scott’s good moral character and financial responsibility during the Maine Harness Racing Commission’s licensing hearings spoke of the 37-year-old multimillionaire in glowing terms, crediting him with playing a key role in saving horse-racing tracks in southwestern Louisiana, West Virginia and upstate New York.

Three of the witnesses – including a former chief of detectives – spoke of Scott in almost parental terms, saying they regarded him almost like a son. Even some of his detractors have privately characterized him as “charming.”

The glowing testimony stopped when Scarborough Downs attorney Edward MacColl asked some of the same witnesses if they were aware of efforts by Scott and his associates to foil the southern Maine track’s efforts to develop a racetrack casino. The witnesses said they had no information to that end. Scarborough Downs has intervenor status in the licensing procedure.

The hearings at the Augusta Civic Center will determine if Scott gets a license to operate the track at Bass Park and bring a $30 million racino with slot machines to Bangor.

Day three of the hearings featured testimony from Scott’s Los Angeles-based tax adviser and some of the people involved in his efforts to develop racinos in Louisiana and New York.

First up was Carl Hasting, managing director of Wealth and Tax Advisory Services Inc., a member of HSBC, or Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Group. Hasting, whose expertise involves providing tax and financial advice to “high-wealth individuals” and “ultra-high-wealth individuals,” also holds a law degree.

Under questioning by Martin Gersten, Scott’s Connecticut-based general counsel, Hasting offered testimony that contradicted some of the concerns cited by the state’s financial expert.

Some concerns Christian Smith of MacDonald, Page, Schatz, Fletcher and Associates identified in regard to Scott’s finances were unrecorded loans, records containing inaccurate data or not filed in a timely fashion and Scott’s unfamiliarity with his companies’ financial transactions, some involving millions of dollars. Smith determined that one of Scott’s corporations actually was a type of tax shelter expected to undergo congressional review. If outlawed, the alleged shelter could mean a $16 million decrease in Scott’s net worth, now estimated at $64 million.

The state Attorney General’s Office tapped Smith to probe Scott’s finances as part of its state-mandated probe into Scott’s good moral character and financial responsibility, the two key conditions Scott must meet to be eligible for a harness racing license in Maine, which he must obtain in order to realize his $30 million plan to develop a racetrack casino in Bangor.

On Thursday, Hasting said it wasn’t unusual for wealthy individuals to be “disorganized” with record keeping or to establish separate companies for their various ventures as a way to protect them from liability. He also said that a $2.4 million investment that resulted in a $47 million tax deduction was not a tax shelter and if challenged by the Internal Revenue Service, Scott “would win rather than lose his case.”

“I would say that there’s a bit of disorganization,” he said of Scott’s overall record keeping. He added, however, “I haven’t seen any evidence of financial irresponsibility.”

Character witnesses testifying Thursday included Jack Hebert, a former Louisiana chief of detectives who now owns a truck dealership, and Sandy Treme, Louisiana’s equivalent of a county commissioner. Both were involved with Scott’s successful 1999 campaign to get slots approved for Delta Downs, the Louisiana track he bought for $10 million and later sold for a reported $130 million.

Both said that Scott had been generous with local charities, giving buses to schools and churches and $10,000 to a black women’s caucus, among other things. They said Scott had always been truthful with them and that he’d kept his promises, including a promise to use local labor despite a much higher cost.

Hebert and Treme testified they supported Scott’s racino effort because they hoped it would help offset jobs lost when the state’s once thriving chemical industry tanked in the 1980s. Delta Downs now has 1,500 permanent employees and provides work for another 1,500 seasonal jobs during the racing season. Hebert said purses increased from $2,500 to $3,000 to $25,000 to $35,000 after slots arrived at Delta Downs.

Charles MacCallion, who is working for Scott on the Bangor project, said he met Scott while he was developing a racino in West Virginia called Charles Town Races & Slots. One of the companies Scott has an interest in provided the financing that allowed the track to become a successful racino.

Others called by Scott’s legal team were: Fred Nichols, longtime Bangor Raceway manager; Nichi Farnham, a former Bangor city councilor; Vernon Downs Marketing Director Mark Scalzo; and Rick Papa, president of the New York Harness Horse Association.

The commission will reconvene at 9 a.m. today. It was not clear Thursday if the commission would deliberate that day or postpone a decision until after members had time to review new information gathered during this week’s proceedings.