Ex-congressman George Santos banned from betting platform for life

What the report says

Prediction-market operator Kalshi has permanently banned former US congressman George Santos from its platform after concluding that his trading and related comments breached its rules, according to the BBC report. The company said his activity around bets tied to whether he would attend US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address showed signs of insider dealing and involved misleading statements that affected contract prices.

The case centers on trades Santos made in February in a market linked to his possible attendance at the address, an event he could influence directly. Kalshi said its compliance team found a series of sizable bets placed over several days, and that some of his public comments about his plans were false or misleading. The company said it referred the matter to federal authorities earlier in the summer and acted on its own before any outside enforcement outcome.

Kalshi also imposed a financial penalty of $71,356 on Santos, while saying he ultimately made $17,839.57 from the trades. In July, Santos reached a $35,000 settlement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission over the same trades, the BBC said.

The move comes as prediction markets such as Kalshi and rival Polymarket face greater scrutiny over unusual trading patterns and the compliance demands that come with offering bets on political and economic events. Santos, who was expelled from Congress and later served prison time after fraud and identity-theft convictions, responded on X with a dismissive remark about the ban.