Key Takeaways
- Criminal charges in Utah: Utah charged KalshiEX LLC, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara on Oct. 28, 2026, with 14 counts, 13 of them felonies.
- Court date: Kalshi has been summoned to appear in Salt Lake City's Third District Court on Dec. 4 at 8:30 a.m. Utah sought summonses, not arrest warrants.
- First felonies: Utah is the second state to charge Kalshi criminally, after Arizona, whose 20 counts were misdemeanors.
- State tally: WYDE confirmed six states that have sued or criminally charged Kalshi, not the 12 claimed in a Nov. 6 post on X.
Utah filed criminal charges on Oct. 28, 2026, against prediction market Kalshi, its CEO Tarek Mansour and its COO Luana Lopes Lara, with 14 counts that include 13 felonies. Kalshi has been summoned to the Third District Court in Salt Lake City on Dec. 4, DeFi Rate reported on Nov. 6.
What the 14 Utah Criminal Counts Against Kalshi Allege
The charges include one count of a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony, 12 counts of online gambling promotion, which are third-degree felonies, and one count of general gambling promotion, a Class A misdemeanor. They accuse Kalshi, Mansour and Lopes Lara of continuing to offer online gambling to people in Utah, KSL reported. The charges are allegations that have not been proven in court.
The case rests on a state investigator, Scott Eggerman, who opened an undercover Kalshi account on Sept. 13, 2026, and made a dozen bets over 11 days on NFL and MLB games, the Utah-Utah State football game and a Real Salt Lake match, the Deseret News reported. On one $5.00 spread bet on the University of Utah, he won $4.13.
"Gambling is illegal in Utah, whether you place the bet, run the game, or promote it," Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said. Kalshi called the case political in a statement to KUER. "We look forward to putting a stop to this in court, just like we did in Arizona," Kalshi said.
Utah's Civil Case and the Federal Lawsuit Against Utah
Utah also sued Kalshi in state court on Oct. 20, 2026, according to the Utah Attorney General's Office. Its 63-page civil complaint claims Kalshi made between $30.5 million and $61.1 million from bets placed by Utah accounts between February 2026 and Oct. 19, 2026. In August, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled for Utah in a suit Kalshi had filed, and on Sept. 8 the Tenth Circuit denied Kalshi's request to block enforcement while it appeals.
The federal government and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Utah in a complaint filed Oct. 26, arguing that event contracts are swaps under federal law that Utah cannot ban. The lawsuit says the federal government has brought similar actions against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
Which States Have Sued or Charged Kalshi
A post on X on Nov. 6 said 12 states had sued or criminally charged Kalshi. WYDE confirmed six. Massachusetts sued first, in September 2025, the Arizona Capitol Times reported. Michigan and Washington sued in March 2026, and New York sued in July 2026.
Arizona filed 20 criminal misdemeanor charges against Kalshi in March 2026, AZFamily reported, and a federal judge paused that prosecution in April, KSL reported. That makes Utah's 13 felony counts the first felony case against Kalshi. Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach said Utah's criminal charges "could be a bellwether for how other states approach Kalshi and Polymarket," according to an Associated Press report published by NBC News.
The charges come as Kalshi promotes its election record. WYDE reported on Nov. 6 that Kalshi says its favorites won 479 of 487 midterm races, and on Nov. 4 covered the CFTC's approval of equity perpetual futures.
People Also Ask
What are the Utah criminal charges against Kalshi?
Utah charged KalshiEX LLC, CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara with 14 counts on Oct. 28, 2026: one second-degree felony count of a pattern of unlawful activity, 12 third-degree felony counts of online gambling promotion and one Class A misdemeanor count of gambling promotion.
When is Kalshi's court date in Utah?
Kalshi has been summoned to appear in Salt Lake City's Third District Court on Dec. 4, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. for its initial appearance and arraignment, DeFi Rate reported. Utah sought summonses for Kalshi's co-founders rather than arrest warrants.
How many states have sued Kalshi?
WYDE confirmed six states that have sued or criminally charged Kalshi: Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, New York, Arizona and Utah. Arizona and Utah brought criminal charges. WYDE could not confirm a Nov. 6 claim on X that 12 states had done so.
Sources: DeFi Rate, KSL, Deseret News, KUER, NBC News, Utah Attorney General, Degenerate Tracker on X.