Former New York Representative George Santos is under investigation for his trading activities on prediction markets, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The prediction market platform Kalshi reported suspicious activity relating to bets on whether Santos would attend the State of the Union address this year. The platform identified Santos’ account, froze it, and referred the case to both the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Traders on Kalshi placed significant bets on various attendees for President Donald Trump’s speech, including Santos, Barron Trump, USA Hockey star Jack Hughes, and journalist Nick Shirley.
Although Santos publicly stated his intention to attend the event, he ultimately did not appear.
In light of the reported suspicious activity, Kalshi conducted an investigation and confirmed the account belonged to Santos, which prompted action to freeze the account.
It has been confirmed that the CFTC, the agency responsible for regulating prediction markets, is investigating this matter.
Media inquiries have been made to Santos, while Kalshi declined to provide comment on the situation.
The scrutiny regarding Santos’ trading was initially reported by NPR. During that report, Santos denied any knowledge of ongoing insider trading investigations. Additionally, the Justice Department is also looking into the situation.
Santos had been serving a seven-year sentence for aggravated identity theft and wire fraud connected to his 2022 midterm campaign before his sentence was commuted by Trump last year, after which he spent less than three months in prison.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have gained significant popularity recently, allowing users to place bets on a wide range of topics, including sports and elections. These markets are regulated as commodity futures, but many officials believe that current regulations have not kept pace with the industry’s rapid growth.
Although CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and utilizes its data for covering major events, CNN editorial staff are prohibited from trading on prediction platforms.
Source: www.cnn.com via Google News.
