Kalshi issues lifetime ban to George Santos for betting on himself

Kalshi has permanently banned former U.S. Representative George Santos after discovering he placed bets against his own stated plans to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. The company stated that its Compliance Department found Santos made these statements intending to manipulate the price of the Yes or No contracts he intended to purchase, which ultimately did manipulate the contract prices. In addition to the ban, Kalshi fined Santos $71,356, which is multiple times the $17,839.57 he earned from his wagers, citing his lack of cooperation during the investigation as a reason for the additional penalties. Santos responded to the ban on X, stating, "thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for." An attorney for Santos did not respond to a request for comment. Previously, Santos agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigation into his suspicious trades, where the CFTC found he made material misrepresentations regarding his attendance at the State of the Union while placing bets on his attendance. Santos' attorney, Joseph Murray, stated that Santos chose to pay to resolve the matter quickly and did not admit to any wrongdoing. In February, Santos had claimed on X that he would attend Trump’s speech, stating, "I’m gonna be in the gallery," but he did not attend the event. Santos commented on his podcast in March that some people lost money due to his absence while others made unexpected profits, highlighting the fragility of the markets. Santos, who had fabricated parts of his background during his congressional campaign, was expelled from Congress in 2023 while under investigation for fraud. He pleaded guilty in 2024 to charges including wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering, receiving a seven-year prison sentence and ordered to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution and over $200,000 in forfeiture. Trump commuted Santos' sentence after three months, stating he had been "horribly mistreated."