Utah files criminal charges against Kalshi and founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara

The Utah Attorney General's Office has filed criminal charges against KalshiEX LLC and its co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, alleging that the prediction market let an undercover state agent in Utah place 12 wagers on sports events in September. The charges follow the state's civil lawsuit against Kalshi on October 20 and a federal lawsuit against Utah filed on October 26.

By Daniel Tan29 Oct 2026Updated: 29 Oct 2026

3 Min Read

The Scott M. Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, home of Utah's Third District Court — Photo: Ben P L / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Overview

The Utah Attorney General's Office filed criminal charges on October 28, 2026 against KalshiEX LLC, chief executive Tarek Mansour and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara. Each faces one count of pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony, 12 counts of online gambling promotion, a third-degree felony, and one count of gambling promotion, a class A misdemeanor, according to the charging documents as reported by FOX 13, KSL and the Deseret News.
The counts are based on 12 wagers that an investigator placed through an undercover Kalshi account on NFL, MLB, college football and Major League Soccer games over 11 days starting September 13. Mansour and Lopes Lara were issued summonses to appear in court.
Kalshi called the charges "a crazy overreach" and said it would fight them in court. The charges are allegations and have not been tested in court.

What the charges say

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the charges, Agent Scott Eggerman created the account using an undercover name, a Utah residential address, a Utah phone number, a Utah bank account and a Utah IP address.

In one example cited by the Deseret News, the agent placed a $5.00 "spread wager" that the University of Utah would beat Utah State by more than 27.5 points. Utah won by 36 points on September 19, and the account was paid $4.13. The charges say Kalshi took a fee of between 3 cents and 78 cents on each transaction.

"Through the fees charged on each wager, Kalshi received proceeds derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of unlawful activity in which it participated as a principal," the affidavit says.

"Gambling is illegal in Utah, whether you place the bet, run the game, or promote it. Calling it a 'prediction market' doesn't change what it is, and being federally registered doesn't put a company above the law," Attorney General Derek Brown said in a statement.

A Kalshi spokesperson said: "This is a crazy overreach; Utah is clearly playing politics. We look forward to putting a stop to this in court, just like we did in Arizona."

Utah's cases against Kalshi

Utah is the second state to bring criminal charges against Kalshi, after Arizona in March. A federal judge later blocked the Arizona prosecution, and Arizona is appealing.

In Utah, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby granted the state summary judgment on August 4 in the lawsuit Kalshi filed in February, ruling that Utah's gambling laws apply to Kalshi's sports contracts. The Tenth Circuit has denied Kalshi's request for an injunction while it appeals.

The state sued Kalshi entities and two Susquehanna market-making firms in state court on October 20. On October 26, the United States and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah in federal court, arguing that federal commodities law preempts state gambling law for CFTC-regulated exchanges. That case is pending.

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Daniel Tan

Daniel Tan is an editor at AskSpinner News who believes industry writing can be informed, approachable and engaging. Daniel turns complex subjects into accessible articles and reports, giving readers a welcoming way into unfamiliar topics and room to build their understanding as they read.