Former New York Rep. George Santos was banned from Kalshi and fined more than $70,000 for allegations of insider trading, according to an announcement from the prediction market platform on Aug. 31.
According to Kalshi, the former Republican was banned for life from the platform and received a financial penalty of $71,356. Santos is also the first person ever to be banned for life from Kalshi.
Santos’ ban was lodged due to "his lack of cooperation" with Kalshi’s compliance department, the platform said.
“Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform,” Santos said in a post on X on Aug. 31. “Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.”
Santos was the Congressman
for New York’s 3rd District in the House of Representatives before being expelled from the chamber in 2023. The former Congressman was charged with fraud and campaign finance violations and sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft.
But after less than three months in prison, President Donald Trump ordered his release, calling him a “rogue” who did not deserve a harsh sentence.
What are the allegations against Santos?
Santos’ ban comes more than a month after he agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a probe by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) into his suspicious trades on Kalshi. Aside from the financial penalty, Santos was banned from trading for three years.
According to both the CFTC and Kalshi, between Feb. 12 and Feb. 25, Santos traded on a Kalshi contract titled "Who will attend the State of the Union?" and on whether he would attend the speech.
Kalshi said it banned him from placing those bets on its platform because he could influence the outcome; nevertheless, the former Congressman still made a series of trades and public statements in an alleged effort to influence the price of the Kalshi trades.
"After these posts, the SOTU contract prices moved in a direction favorable to Santos' positions, which allowed him to make over $17,500," the CFTC said in July.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Santos receives first-ever lifetime ban from Kalshi
