Utah Attorney General Derek Brown has filed criminal cases against KalshiEX, its co-founder and chief executive Tarek Mansour, and co-founder and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara, alleging online gambling promotion, general gambling promotion and a pattern of unlawful activity.
Each defendant faces 13 felony counts and one misdemeanor. The felony counts comprise 12 allegations of online gambling promotion and one count alleging a pattern of unlawful activity; the misdemeanor alleges general gambling promotion.
The charging documents say KalshiEX derived proceeds from online gambling promotion from Sept. 13 through Sept. 26. They allege the company facilitated wagers by undercover agent Scott Eggerman while he was in Salt Lake or Davis counties, taking a fee from his Kalshi account balance for each wager.
The alleged wagers covered 12 sporting events, including NFL, college football, MLS, MLB and NHL games. They included bets on the Packers-Falcons game involving passing and rushing yards, and Eagles-Titans markets concerning first-quarter, fourth-quarter and final scores.
Prosecutors allege Kalshi used the proceeds in operating a continuing business enterprise. Separate documents accuse Mansour and Lara of acquiring or maintaining an interest in, or control of, Kalshi through the alleged unlawful pattern; both are also accused of participating in its affairs and committing or causing at least three interrelated episodes on the company’s behalf.
Utah issued summonses to Mansour and Lara rather than arrest warrants. Kalshi called the charges a political overreach and said it would challenge them in court.
Brown said Utah law prohibits gambling whether a person places a bet, runs the game or promotes it, and argued that calling the activity a prediction market or holding federal registration does not place a company above state law.
Utah has also filed a civil lawsuit seeking to stop Kalshi from offering sports, election, political and other event bets in the state. A federal court granted Utah summary judgment in August, holding that the Commodity Exchange Act did not override its gambling laws, and the Tenth Circuit denied Kalshi’s bid to block enforcement while its appeal proceeded on Sept. 8.
