The online prediction market platform Kalshi said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep.\u00a0George Santos\u00a0for his bets on whether he\u2019d attend the State of the Union address and has fined and temporarily banned North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout for bets she now calls a \u201cdumb mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The company announced the ban on Santos, a Republican, after its Compliance Department found reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading, contributing to speculation over whether he would attend the address before turning a $17,839 profit on\u00a0his trading activity\u00a0when he did not.<\/p>\n
Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana said it was the first permanent ban in the company\u2019s history. She said those affected by four other new enforcement cases announced Monday would be banned from trading temporarily because they cooperated with Kalshi\u2019s probe.<\/p>\n
The company also levied a $2,589 fine and three-year ban against Buckhout, a Republican and retired colonel who\u2019s running against Democratic Rep. Don Davis in a swing district in northeastern North Carolina, and three-year bans on failed candidates for governor in California and Maine.<\/p>\n
Kalshi said Buckhout admitted placing bets of less than $1,000 on her campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bet on myself. Literally. It was a dumb mistake, and as soon as I learned there was an issue, I worked to make it right,\u201d Buckhout said in a statement. \u201cSafe to say my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lifetime ban, effective last Friday, on Santos prevents him from accessing Kalshi\u2019s platform directly or indirectly. The site also imposed a $71,356 penalty.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0convicted ex-congressman\u00a0had repeatedly discussed his intention to attend the State of the Union, which came just four months after he was granted clemency by President Donald Trump in a fraud case that led to his expulsion from the U.S. House.<\/p>\n
On the eve of Trump\u2019s speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%.<\/p>\n
Then, minutes into the speech, Santos\u00a0posted on X\u00a0that he had been waylaid at the airport. Immediately, several social media users accused him of running another scheme.<\/p>\n
An email seeking comment from Santos on Monday was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n
On X, Santos called Kalshi \u201can unserious company\u201d and labeled the ban \u201cfrivolous nonsense\u201d in one post and, in another, said \u201cthanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform,\u201d adding: \u201cLet\u2019s see how much longer you guys are around for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalshi\u2019s Compliance Department said Santos was prohibited from trading over his attendance plans because he was capable of influencing the outcome. Yet, it added, he placed several large bets between Feb. 2 and Feb. 25 on whether he would attend and then spoke publicly to influence the price of the bets, including making \u201cfalse or misleading statements.\u201d<\/p>\n
A month ago, Santos agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a federal investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission into the trades. The federal probe prompted rival online prediction platform Polymarket to\u00a0cut ties with Santos\u00a0in June.<\/p>\n
In March, Santos\u00a0addressed\u00a0complaints about his attendance at the State of the Union address on his podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess people lost money,\u201d he said. \u201cSome people made unexpected money. That\u2019s to show you how fragile these markets are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santos, who won office after inventing a bogus persona as a Wall Street dealmaker, was sentenced to seven years in prison after\u00a0pleading guilty to fraud\u00a0and identity theft in 2024. After serving just 84 days, he was ordered released by Trump, who called Santos a \u201crogue\u201d but said he did not deserve a harsh sentence and should get credit for voting Republican.<\/p>\n
Kalshi\u2019s temporary bans announced Monday also were imposed on Stephen Cloobeck, a timeshare mogul who briefly ran for California governor and who Kalshi says bought $10,000 worth of contracts on his candidacy, and Ben Midgley, a businessman who briefly competed for the GOP nomination for Maine governor and bet less than $1,000 on his campaign. Cloobeck could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
Midgley said in a statement that he was not aware candidates could not support themselves on Kalshi when he used the platform he viewed as \u201ca novelty and entertainment source.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I became aware the site preferred not to have candidates supporting themselves, I suspended any involvement,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean it is hard to take a site seriously which allows bets on virtually anything. Obviously, the novelty has worn off. I had no winnings and made a donation to charity in accordance with Kalshi\u2019s policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Patrick Whittle in Maine contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#bet #Literally #George #Santos #banned #life #Kalshi #insider #trading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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