Utah Files 14 Criminal Charges Against Kalshi and Its Co-Founders

Utah filed 14 criminal charges on Wednesday against Kalshi and its co-founders, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara, accusing them of illegally promoting gambling in the state.

The case moves the state's fight with the prediction market from civil court to criminal court. Kalshi said it will fight the charges.

Twelve bets from an undercover account

The charging document lists one second-degree felony count of pattern of unlawful activity, 12 third-degree felony counts of online gambling promotion and one misdemeanor.

It says an attorney general's investigator opened an account with Utah details on Sept. 13 and placed 12 sports wagers in 11 days. One was a $5 bet on a Utah-Utah State football spread that paid $4.13, the Deseret News reported. Kalshi took fees of 3 to 78 cents per trade, the charges allege.

The bigger dollar figure sits in Utah's separate civil suit. It alleges Kalshi made between $30.5 million and $61.1 million from Utah accounts from February through Oct. 19, the Deseret News reported.

Both sides dig in

"Calling it a 'prediction market' doesn't change what it is," Attorney General Derek Brown said in a statement to FOX 13.

A Kalshi spokesperson called the charges "a crazy overreach" and said "Utah is clearly playing politics," adding that the company expects to win in court "just like we did in Arizona," FOX 13 reported. A federal judge blocked Arizona's prosecution of Kalshi.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah on Monday, arguing federal law covers event contracts and they "are not gambling," KSL reported. In August, a federal judge in Utah ruled the other way on Kalshi's own suit. An appeal is pending.

The co-founders were issued summonses to appear in court. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.