Utah filed criminal charges against prediction market Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, accusing them of illegally promoting gambling in the state. They face one second-degree felony count, 12 third-degree felony counts and one misdemeanor count. Prosecutors allege that an undercover Utah agent placed 12 sports wagers on Kalshi in September and that Kalshi collected fees on the bets. The attorney general’s office did not say what penalties it would seek.
Kalshi called the charges “a crazy overreach.” A federal judge ruled in August that federal law does not prevent Utah from enforcing its gambling laws, but Kalshi is appealing. The CFTC has separately sued Utah to block enforcement against federally regulated exchanges, and federal appeals courts have split on whether states can apply gambling laws to prediction markets.
