Utah files criminal charges against Kalshi and its two cofounders
The state accuses the prediction market and its top executives of illegally promoting online gambling, escalating a dispute with the Trump administration over who regulates such platforms.
By Elena Greco ·
Utah has filed criminal charges against the prediction market Kalshi and its two cofounders, alleging that the platform and its leaders illegally promoted online gambling.
Attorney General Derek Brown brought the case against the company, chief executive officer Tarek Mansour and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara on Wednesday. The filing came a day after the administration of US President Donald Trump sued the state in an effort to stop it from taking civil enforcement action against the platform.
The criminal complaint was filed in a court in Salt Lake City. It says Kalshi facilitated wagers on sports events, including NFL games, placed by an undercover law enforcement officer.
The defendants face 12 counts of online gambling promotion, one count of general gambling promotion and one count of pattern of unlawful activity.
The charges follow a ruling in August in which a federal judge found that Utah may enforce its strict anti-gambling laws against online prediction markets. That decision came after Kalshi sought legal protection from enforcement of the law. Kalshi and the attorney general's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Utah is known for having some of the toughest gambling restrictions in the country. Its state constitution expressly prohibits lawmakers from legalising the activity.
The case sharpens a conflict between US states and the Trump administration over how prediction markets should be regulated. On Tuesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit to halt Utah's enforcement actions against such platforms, arguing that they fall under federal jurisdiction. The regulator acted after Utah filed a civil suit last week accusing Kalshi of facilitating bets on sports, elections, politics and other outcomes in violation of state gambling law.
Dozens of states, led by both Republican and Democratic administrations, have argued that the commission lacks the authority to regulate prediction 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.
Source: Al Jazeera
