Kalshi bans George Santos for life after he secretly bet on himself

The prediction marketplace platform Kalshi has hit former U.S. Rep. George Santos with its first-ever lifetime ban after finding he bet against his own announced plans to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. “The Compliance Department found that Santos made these statements with the intent to manipulate the price of the Yes or No contracts that he intended to purchase. Ultimately, these statements did in fact manipulate the price of said contracts,” the company said. In addition to barring him from “direct or indirect access” to its platform, Kalshi fined Santos $71,356 — multiples of the $17,839.57 it said he made from his wagers. Kalshi said it hit him with extra penalties because of “his lack of cooperation” with its probe. Santos mocked the company in a post on X Monday, saying “thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.” An attorney for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Late last month, Santos, a former Republican congressman from New York, agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into his suspicious trades. The CFTC found that Santos had “made a series of material misrepresentations and omissions” in his social media posts about whether he would attend the State of the Union while placing bets on his own attendance. Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, said he’d agree to pay to “put this matter behind” him and had not admitted any wrongdoing. “He chose a prompt, practical resolution, rather than protracted, costly litigation, and that choice should not be mistaken for admission of any wrongdoing, because it is not one,” Murray said then in a statement Santos shared on X. Santos had taken to X back in February to tell his millions of followers that he planned to attend Trump’s speech. “I’m gonna be in the gallery,” Santos said in a video on X. Santos did not attend the event. “I guess people lost money,” Santos said on his podcast in March. “Some people made unexpected money. That’s to show you how fragile these markets are.” Santos, who was revealed to have fabricated large swaths of his background during his congressional campaign, was expelled from Congress while under federal investigation for fraud in 2023. He pleaded guilty in 2024 to federal charges including wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay almost $374,000 in restitution and over $200,000 in forfeiture. Trump commuted Santos’ sentence after he’d been behind bars for three months, saying he had been “horribly mistreated.” “Good luck George, have a great life!” the president wrote on Truth Social.