Utah files criminal charges against Kalshi and its co‑founders

Utah filed criminal charges on Wednesday 28 October 2026 against Kalshi and its co‑founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara. The state prosecutor accuses KalshiEx LLC of violating Utah gambling laws by offering [event contracts](/regulation) to state residents; the complaint lists 14 counts and cites trading activity executed from Utah addresses and accounts.

Details of the indictment

The court filing lists a total of 14 counts against KalshiEx LLC and names Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara as co‑defendants. The counts comprise:

• one count of a pattern of unlawful activity, a second‑degree felony;

• 12 counts of promoting online gambling, each a third‑degree felony; and

• one count of promoting gambling, a class A misdemeanor.

Under Utah law, a second‑degree felony carries a potential prison term of 1 to 15 years, while each third‑degree felony can be punished by up to 5 years. The state’s statute on a pattern of unlawful activity also allows courts to impose forfeitures or fines tied to proceeds from the illegal activity.

Source: undercover probe and cited evidence

The prosecutor says the charges rest on an undercover investigation by the Office of the Utah Attorney General. The investigator from that office, Scott Eggerman, opened an account at Kalshi in September using a Utah IP address, a Utah residential address, a Utah phone number and a Utah bank account, and executed trades from Salt Lake and Davis counties.

The probable affidavit obtained by FOX 13 News documents 12 trades on Kalshi covering NFL and college football games, MLB, hockey and soccer. Examples include a $10 position that the Dallas Cowboys would beat the New York Giants, for which Kalshi allegedly charged a commission of $0.44, and a $5 trade that Utah would beat Utah State by more than 27.5 points, with a commission of $0.16.

Prosecutors allege the commissions Kalshi collected on those transactions constituted revenue from unlawful gambling activity. The indictment also cites public statements by Mansour, identified as chief executive, and Lopes Lara, identified as chief operating officer, about their supervisory roles at the company, and alleges both executives exercised control over the firm that engaged in illegal conduct.

Responses and legal context

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown defended the charges to FOX 13 News and said Kalshi’s federal registration does not exempt it from state gambling laws. The state's announcement comes after, two days earlier, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice sued Utah to block enforcement actions against federally regulated exchanges. Eight days before the criminal charges, Utah had filed a separate civil lawsuit against Kalshi.

Kalshi called the charges “a crazy overreach” in a statement to FOX 13 News and accused Utah of acting for political purposes; the company said it will contest the prosecution in court, as it did in Arizona. In March Arizona brought 20 misdemeanor counts against Kalshi for alleged violations of its gambling laws; in May a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that blocked Arizona’s actions against contracts offered on exchanges regulated by the CFTC. The federal government’s involvement in the Utah litigation follows that earlier federal ruling.

Mansour and Lopes Lara have been served subpoenas to appear in court. The criminal indictment now proceeds alongside the previously filed civil actions and the federal dispute between Utah and federal regulators.