NEW YORK (AP) — A prediction‑market platform alerted federal prosecutors about U.S. Rep. George Santos after he bragged that he would attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and then placed a bet that he would not attend. A person familiar with the investigation said the platform, Kalshi, referred Santos to the Department of Justice after spotting suspicious trading activity linked to the former congressman ahead of the speech.
Kalshi reported the suspicious trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal regulator dedicated to cracking down on insider trading in prediction markets. The Justice Department and the CFTC have yet to respond to requests for comment.
Santos also failed to answer text messages or phone calls. The referral was first reported by NPR, who noted that Santos told the outlet he was unaware of the investigation and did not confirm whether he owned a Kalshi account.
“I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no,” Santos told NPR after being questioned about the potential insider‑trading allegations.
Santos, who was convicted of fraud and identity theft after claiming a bogus Wall Street background, was expelled from the House and later granted clemency by Trump. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but served only 84 days before being released on Trump’s orders, who described him as a “rogue” but not deserving of a harsh sentence.
This case adds to the growing scrutiny on prediction‑market platforms such as Kalshi and its rival Polymarket, which some lawmakers urge to strengthen safeguards against insider trading. In related incidents, a soldier was charged for using classified information to predict the time of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s capture on Polymarket, and the Senate approved a bipartisan resolution to prohibit its own members from engaging in prediction‑market trading.
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