On a Wednesday in late October, Utah's attorney general placed a prediction market and two of its leaders before a criminal court, a step that carries an old quarrel about chance and wagering into a new digital form. The company, Kalshi, and its chief executive and chief operating officer now face fourteen counts tied to promoting gambling, and the case leans in part on an undercover officer whose sports bets the platform allegedly accepted. It arrives as the federal government, which has its own claim to oversee these markets, moved to stop the state's civil enforcement, and as dozens of stat
Utah Files Criminal Charges Against Kalshi and Its Cofounders Over Sports Event Contracts
Utah charged the company and both of its founders by name
Mark
Utah has charged a company and its two founders personally. Why does that stand out?
Mimi
Because it moves past a civil fight over a platform. Brown charged CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara by name, with 14 counts in total.
Mark
What is the factual basis for the charges?
Mimi
The complaint says Kalshi facilitated an undercover officer's wagers on sports, including NFL games.
Luke
That's what the complaint alleges. It's a charging document, not a finding. Nothing here shows a court has agreed, and we haven't heard Kalshi's response.
Mark
And the August ruling? Does that settle things?
Mimi
It said Utah can enforce its anti-gambling laws against prediction markets. Kalshi had sued to stop that enforcement, and lost that round.
Luke
Worth being careful, though. That ruling is about whether Utah may enforce its laws, not about whether Kalshi broke them.
Mark
Then where does the federal government come in?
Mimi
The CFTC sued Utah on Tuesday, arguing prediction markets fall under federal jurisdiction. The charges came a day later.
Luke
The reporting gives us the sequence, not the motive. We can't say the charges were a direct reply to the lawsuit.
Mimi
Fair. What's clear is that states of both parties dispute the CFTC's authority, and New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to decide it.
Le Pouls
- Utah has moved from a civil suit to criminal charges against Kalshi and two of its top executives within about a week.
- A day before the criminal filing, the Trump administration's CFTC sued Utah, setting federal authority against state law in a head-on collision.
- The complaint alleges an undercover officer placed sports wagers, including on NFL games, through the platform after a federal judge cleared Utah to enforce its anti-gambling laws.
- Fourteen counts are now aimed at the company and its leaders, while dozens of states press the same jurisdictional fight across the country.
- Kalshi and the attorney general's office had not responded to requests for comment, leaving the next move open as New Jersey's Supreme Court request looms.
On a Wednesday in late October, Utah's attorney general placed a prediction market and two of its leaders before a criminal court, a step that carries an old quarrel about chance and wagering into a new digital form. The company, Kalshi, and its chief executive and chief operating officer now face fourteen counts tied to promoting gambling, and the case leans in part on an undercover officer whose sports bets the platform allegedly accepted. It arrives as the federal government, which has its own claim to oversee these markets, moved to stop the state's civil enforcement, and as dozens of states contend that the power to decide what counts as betting belongs to them. Whether that claim prevails may now depend on the highest court in the land.
On Wednesday, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown brought criminal charges in Salt Lake City against the prediction market Kalshi, its chief executive Tarek Mansour, and its chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara. The complaint lists fourteen counts of gambling promotion, including twelve counts of online gambling promotion, one of general gambling promotion, and one of pattern of unlawful activity.
The case rests partly on an undercover officer whose wagers on sports, including NFL games, were allegedly facilitated by Kalshi. The charges followed an August federal ruling that allowed Utah to enforce its strict anti-gambling laws against online prediction markets, a state where the constitution itself forbids legalizing gambling.
The timing sharpened the dispute. A day earlier, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah, arguing that prediction markets belong under federal jurisdiction, after the state had filed a civil suit the week before. Dozens of states, across party lines, reject that federal claim, and New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to decide whether state or federal authorities hold jurisdiction. Kalshi and the attorney general's office had not yet responded to requests for comment.
On Wednesday, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed criminal charges in a Salt Lake City court against the prediction market Kalshi and its two cofounders, accusing them of illegally promoting online gambling. Named alongside the company are chief executive Tarek Mansour and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara.
The criminal complaint lists 12 counts of online gambling promotion, one count of general gambling promotion and one count of pattern of unlawful activity. That makes 14 counts in all, spread across the company and its two executives.
According to the complaint, the case rests partly on an undercover law enforcement officer. The filing says Kalshi facilitated that officer's wagers on sports events, including NFL games.
The charges follow a ruling in August, when a federal judge held that Utah was entitled to enforce its strict anti-gambling laws against online prediction markets. That decision came after Kalshi went to court seeking to block enforcement of the law. Utah is among the most restrictive states in the country on gambling, and its state constitution explicitly bars lawmakers from legalising it.
The timing matters. The filing came a day after President Donald Trump's administration sued Utah to stop its civil enforcement actions against the platform. On Tuesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed that lawsuit, arguing that prediction market platforms fall under federal jurisdiction. The regulator moved after Utah filed a civil suit the week before, accusing Kalshi of facilitating betting on sports, elections, politics and other outcomes in violation of the state's anti-gambling laws.
So within about a week, Utah has brought both a civil case and a criminal one, and Washington has answered with a suit of its own. The criminal charges mark an escalation in a wider dispute between US states and the Trump administration over who regulates prediction markets.
Utah is not alone in its position. Dozens of states, led by both Republican and Democratic administrations, have argued that the CFTC does not have the authority to regulate these markets. Last month, New Jersey asked the US Supreme Court to decide whether state or federal authorities have jurisdiction over sports betting on prediction market platforms.
Kalshi and Brown's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. What to watch next is how the CFTC's suit against Utah proceeds alongside the criminal case, and whether the Supreme Court takes up New Jersey's request, which could settle the jurisdiction question.
Citations marquantes
The complaint says Kalshi facilitated an undercover law enforcement officer's wagers on sports events, including NFL games.— Criminal complaint filed in Salt Lake City court, as reported by Al Jazeera
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