Summary
- Former Rep. George Santos is under scrutiny for his trading on prediction markets, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
- Kalshi identified suspicious activity in a market about whether Santos would attend the State of the Union address.
- Kalshi froze Santos’ account and made a referral to the Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a source said.
AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.
Former New York Rep. George Santos, who went to prison last year on federal fraud charges after being ousted from Congress, is now under scrutiny for his trading on prediction markets, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The prediction site Kalshi identified suspicious activity in a market about whether the former Republican lawmaker would attend the State of the Union address this year, according to one of the sources.
Traders on Kalshi placed millions of dollars in bets on who would attend President Donald Trump’s speech, including Santos; the president’s son Barron; USA Hockey star Jack Hughes; and Nick Shirley, the MAGA journalist whose Minnesota fraud story went viral.
Santos had publicly said before the speech that he would be attending — but he ultimately didn’t show.
The source said Kalshi determined the account belonged to Santos, froze the account, and referred the matter to the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
A separate source confirmed that the CFTC, which regulates prediction markets, is investigating the matter.
CNN has reached out to Santos. Kalshi did not provide comment for this story.
The federal scrutiny into Santos’ trades was first reported by NPR. Santos told NPR he wasn’t aware of any insider trading investigations. NPR reported that the Justice Department is also investigating the matter. CNN has reached out to the Justice Department.
Santos was serving a seven-year sentence for aggravated identity theft and wire fraud charges related to his 2022 midterm campaign when Trump commuted his sentence last year. He spent less than three months in prison.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have exploded in popularity over the past year — allowing anyone to bet on nearly everything from sports, to elections, to who’s going to win season 50 of “Survivor.”
The markets are treated like commodity futures and regulated by the federal government, but many lawmakers and state officials say the rules haven’t caught up to the realities of the massively growing industry.
CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and uses its data to cover major events, but CNN editorial employees aren’t allowed to trade on prediction sites.
