From Decrypt · By Decrypt Agent
In brief
Utah has filed felony charges against Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, accusing them of illegally promoting gambling in the state.
Prosecutors say an undercover state agent placed 12 sports wagers on Kalshi in September, despite a federal ruling that Utah's gambling laws apply to the platform.
Kalshi called the charges "a crazy overreach," a day after the CFTC sued Utah to stop it from enforcing its gambling laws against federally regulated exchanges.
Utah has filed criminal charges against prediction market Kalshi and its two co-founders, accusing them of illegally promoting gambling in the state, ABC4 reported on Wednesday.
KalshiEX LLC, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara face one count of pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony, 12 counts of online gambling promotion, a third-degree felony, and one count of gambling promotion, a misdemeanor, according to the charging documents.
"Gambling is illegal in Utah, whether you place the bet, run the game, or promote it. Calling it a 'prediction market' doesn't change what it is, and being federally registered doesn't put a company above the law," Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a statement.
According to the charges, a special agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation set up an undercover account as a Utah resident and placed 12 wagers on sports including NFL and college games in September, passing a location check that confirmed he was in the state. Kalshi earned proceeds from the fees it charged on each bet, prosecutors allege.
Brown's office did not say what penalties it would seek, though the felony charges carry the possibility of jail time, the Associated Press reported.
"This is a crazy overreach; Utah is clearly playing politics," Kalshi said in a statement. "We look forward to putting a stop to this in court, just like we did in Arizona."
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Utah's fight with the CFTC
The charges escalate a dispute that already involves the federal government. Utah, where the state constitution bans gambling, sued Kalshi in state court last week. On Tuesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah to block its enforcement actions against CFTC-registered exchanges, making it the 10th state the agency has taken to court.
"Congress entrusted the CFTC to be the federal regulator with sole responsibility to oversee these markets," CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said.
Utah has already won one round. In August, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby rejected Kalshi's own bid to block enforcement, ruling that federal law "does not preempt Utah's ability to enforce its anti-gambling laws." Kalshi is appealing to the Tenth Circuit, which denied its request for an injunction in September.