A betting market company has turned over former U.S. Representative George Santos to federal authorities following what sources describe as questionable trading behavior related to his attendance at a presidential address.
According to someone with knowledge of the matter, Kalshi – an online prediction marketplace – contacted the Department of Justice after Santos publicly declared his plans to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Feb. 24, but then wagered against his own appearance.
The source, who requested anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak publicly about the investigation, said the platform also notified the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about the trades. The CFTC has pledged to pursue insider trading violations within prediction markets.
Neither the Justice Department nor the CFTC provided immediate responses to inquiries on Tuesday.
Santos did not answer text messages or phone calls seeking comment.
NPR initially broke the story about the referral. When contacted by NPR, Santos claimed ignorance of any investigation and refused to confirm or deny having an account with Kalshi.
“I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no,” Santos stated to NPR.
The former congressman had publicly and repeatedly expressed his plans to attend the State of the Union address, which occurred four months after Trump granted him clemency in a fraud case that resulted in his removal from the U.S. House.
Before Trump’s speech began, Kalshi had calculated Santos’s attendance probability at approximately 75%.
However, shortly after the address started, Santos posted on X claiming he had been delayed at an airport. Social media users quickly suggested he was operating another fraudulent scheme.
“Santos talking to his accountant and telling him to open his Kalshi account and bet all his money on No,” wrote one user, posting a meme featuring Al Pacino handling money from the film Scarface.
Santos responded to the criticism during his podcast in March.
“I guess people lost money,” he commented. “Some people made unexpected money. That’s to show you how fragile these markets are.”
The former Republican representative, who gained office using a fabricated background as a Wall Street financial professional, received a seven-year prison sentence after admitting guilt to fraud and identity theft charges in 2024.
Trump ordered his release after Santos served only 84 days, describing him as a “rogue” while arguing he didn’t merit a severe punishment and should receive recognition for supporting Republican votes.
Betting platforms like Kalshi and its primary competitor Polymarket face increasing oversight as their operations grow, with some legislators pushing for stronger protections against insider trading.
Both platforms claim they report questionable trading activity to federal authorities. Some investigations have resulted in criminal prosecutions. In April, a military member involved in operations targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro faced charges for using classified intelligence to earn over $400,000 by predicting his capture date on Polymarket.
The Senate passed a bipartisan measure in April prohibiting its members from participating in prediction markets.
