Utah brings 14 criminal charges against Kalshi and its co-founders
The Utah Attorney General’s Office on local time Wednesday, October 28, 2026, brought criminal charges against prediction market platform KalshiEX, LLC and its co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, on a total of 14 counts. These include one second-degree felony (pattern of unlawful activity), 12 third-degree felonies (promoting online gambling), and one class A misdemeanor (promoting gambling). The charging document says an undercover agent placed bets on 12 sporting events through Kalshi after confirming that he was in Utah.
According to Reuters and Deseret News, the charges came one day after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Utah to stop it from enforcing its anti-gambling law. The CFTC argued that federal law has exclusive jurisdiction over event contracts. Previously, a federal judge ruled in August that federal law does not prevent Utah from enforcing state gambling law against Kalshi; Utah also filed a civil lawsuit last week, alleging that the platform allowed residents to bet on sports, elections and other events. A Kalshi spokesperson responded that this was a “serious overreach, and Utah is clearly playing politics,” and said it would fight the case in court, similar to how it handled a prior case in Arizona.
The charging document shows that agent Scott Eggerman opened an account starting on September 13 using a Utah IP address and identity information, and placed bets on 12 games, including NFL, MLB and local events, between September 13 and 26. Attorney General Derek Brown said the federal court had already ruled that state law applies, yet Kalshi continued to accept bets.
Original sources:
Title: Utah criminally charges Kalshi with promoting illegal gambling Publisher: Reuters Publication date: 2026-10-28 URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/utah-criminally-charges-kalshi-with-promoting-illegal-gambling-2026-10-28/ Source type: media report Verification status: full text read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28 Supporting content: Attorney General Derek Brown brought criminal charges against Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara; one second-degree felony, 12 third-degree felonies, and one misdemeanor; undercover agent made 12 sports bets; CFTC sued the day before; Kalshi responded “serious overreach.”
Title: Utah files criminal charges against Kalshi and its founders Publisher: Deseret News Publication date: 2026-10-28 URL: https://www.deseret.com/sports/2026/10/28/utah-files-criminal-charges-kalshi-illegal-gambling-promotion-cftc-sues-utah-block-laws/ Source type: media report Verification status: key passages read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28 Supporting content: details of the charges (one second-degree felony, 12 third-degree felonies, one class A misdemeanor); account and 12-bet details for agent Scott Eggerman; attorney general’s statement.
Title: Feds sue Utah over attempt to ban Kalshi; AG files criminal charges Publisher: KSL Publication date: 2026-10-28 URL: https://www.ksl.com/article/51642075/feds-sue-utah-over-attempt-to-ban-kalshi-ag-files-criminal-charges-in-response Source type: media report Verification status: key passages read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28 Supporting content: timing of the criminal filing, the composition of the charges, the co-founders as co-defendants, and the agent placing bets after confirming his location in Utah.
ABAB AI Insight
Days after filing a civil lawsuit, Utah further brought criminal charges against the Kalshi platform and its co-founders personally, escalating the regulatory dispute from a state-court civil case to a criminal proceeding. The charges are based on an undercover agent successfully completing 12 sports event contract transactions after confirming his location in Utah, and they cite a prior federal judge’s ruling that Utah’s gambling law may apply to the platform. The CFTC simultaneously sued Utah, asserting exclusive federal jurisdiction over event contracts, creating a direct federal-state confrontation over how prediction markets are characterized.
Kalshi maintains that its product is event contracts regulated by the CFTC rather than gambling, and says it will fight the case in court. The criminal charges make company executives co-defendants, marking a new escalation in the conflict between prediction markets and multi-state regulation. Utah’s blanket prohibition on gambling under its constitution and laws makes it one of the states with the clearest position in such cases. Key indicators to watch include future court rulings on federal preemption and state enforcement authority, as well as whether other states follow a similar criminal path.
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The shift from a civil lawsuit days earlier to criminal charges against the platform and its founders turns the regulatory dispute from an injunction request into personal liability exposure.
The undercover agent’s completed trades after confirming his location become the core evidence, with state enforcement running alongside claims of exclusive federal jurisdiction.
The dispute over how to characterize prediction markets moves from civil proceedings into criminal litigation, and the scope of individual defendants expands to include the co-founders.