Utah's Attorney General Derek Brown filed criminal charges against prediction market platform Kalshi and two of its top executives, escalating a running legal battle over online gambling laws. The Wednesday filing targets co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, citing 12 counts of online gambling promotion as third-degree felonies, a second-degree felony count for a pattern of unlawful activity, and a misdemeanor for general gambling promotion. This follows an earlier civil lawsuit filed by the state on October 20, which characterized the platform as an illegal gambling operation.
State officials maintain that federal registration does not exempt the company from local statutes. Attorney General Brown stated that gambling remains illegal in Utah regardless of whether participants place bets, run the platform, or promote it, adding that labeling the activity as a prediction market does not change its legal status. Kalshi representatives pushed back sharply against the indictment, calling the move a political overreach and expressing confidence that the company will prevail in court.
Meanwhile, the federal government has intervened to protect the platform. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a lawsuit against Utah, asserting its exclusive jurisdiction over federally registered prediction markets and event contracts. CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig emphasized that Congress granted the agency sole authority to oversee these derivatives, which serve both investment functions and public information needs. While the CFTC has actively opposed state-level enforcement actions against platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, it remains unconfirmed whether the federal agency will launch specific legal challenges addressing the newly filed criminal charges.
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