George Santos has a dubious new honor as the first person ever to be banned for life from the betting platform Kalshi.
Santos, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump who was expelled from Congress and convicted of fraud, earned more than $17,000 by placing bets on whether he would attend Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year.
A day before the speech, he posted a video on X.com saying he would attend, sending the odds of his attendance soaring on the prediction market website.
He then placed bets, however, that he would not attend. While Trump was speaking, he posted a message on X.com saying, “Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML,” or “f--- my life.”
Kalshi identified the trades and froze Santos’ account, and referred the matter to the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Now, it has also banned him for life and imposed a penalty of $71,356, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company said the ban was the result of Santos refusing to fully cooperate with Kalshi’s investigation.
The former New York congressman also agreed in July to pay more than $35,000 to settle the CFTC’s claims that he made misrepresentations on social media and improperly traded on an event that he had the power to influence.
He has also been banned from trading on all platforms for three years.
His lawyer, Joseph Murray, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Santos’ permanent suspension.
Murray had previously said that Santos only agreed to pay the $35,000 settlement to avoid litigation, and that the decision “should not be mistaken for admission of any wrongdoing,” according to the Journal.
Trump’s oldest son, Donald Jr., serves as a strategic adviser for Kalshi, which has come under fire for suspiciously timed bets involving the president’s decision-making—including his attack on Venezuela and war with Iran—that earned users hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In July, the president’s longtime teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez was busted profiting from predictions about the contents of Trump’s speeches.
Perez, who has agreed to pay a civil fine of $65,000 and give up more than $107,000 in winnings, was suspended from Kalshi for three years.
The platform has rushed to show regulators that it’s taking steps to crack down on insider trading, including requiring users to disclose their place of employment, the Journal reported.
At the same time, it’s battling lawsuits from about 20 states seeking to regulate speculation on sporting events on prediction markets.
Santos was elected in 2022 to represent New York’s 3rd district, but before he was even sworn in, it was revealed that he had lied about his background.
To name just a few examples, he falsely claimed that he was Jewish, his family survived the Holocaust, his mom was in the Twin Towers during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that he had earned an MBA from New York University.
He also failed to disclose his criminal history and pending lawsuits, and made fake disclosures about his business activity.
Santos was indicted on federal charges and expelled from Congress in 2023, and after pleading guilty to identity theft and wire fraud, he was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Trump commuted Santos’ prison sentence last October.
