Utah Files 14 Criminal Charges Against Kalshi and Its Co-Founders Over Sports Prediction Markets

Utah has escalated its fight with Kalshi by filing 14 criminal charges against the platform and its co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, over sports-related wagering on the app. For payment companies watching high-risk exposure, the point is straightforward: the legal question is no longer abstract, and the state is treating prediction-market sports bets as gambling under Utah law.

1. According to documents filed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, the state announced the charges on Wednesday, October 28. The filing includes 13 felony counts against Kalshi and its co-founders, tied to allegations that the company violated state gambling laws by allowing users to wager on sporting events.
2. The case was built in part through an undercover operation. An agent for the attorney general opened a Kalshi account using a Utah address, phone number, and a locally issued debit card, then confirmed the account’s location through location services before placing 12 wagers on sporting events over about two weeks.
3. The wagers totaled $114.87, and the agent lost $25.10, according to the charging documents. The bets covered NFL games, college football, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and an NHL matchup between the Utah Mammoth and the Colorado Avalanche.
4. The filing says the agent correctly predicted half of the outcomes. Successful wagers included predictions on the Utah Utes’ margin of victory against Utah State, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s passing yards, and the total points scored in an NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans.
5. Each of the 12 wagers is the basis of an online gambling promotion charge, described in the filing as a third-degree felony under Utah law. The charges also include allegations of a pattern of unlawful activity and general gambling promotion, which is a misdemeanor in the state. No arrest warrants were issued; instead, Mansour and Lopes Lara were summoned to respond in Utah’s Third District Court in Salt Lake County.

The case sits inside a broader legal fight over whether prediction markets should be treated as financial products or as gambling under state law. On Tuesday, October 27, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah, seeking to stop the state’s civil action against Kalshi and its investigation of the platform, arguing that federal law governs prediction markets and takes precedence over conflicting state gambling restrictions.