Former U.S. Representative George Santos (R-N.Y.) has agreed to pay $35,000 to settle allegations related to his trades on the prediction platform Kalshi, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The settlement, announced by the CFTC on Friday, resolved a federal investigation into whether Santos would attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. Santos had placed bets on Kalshi about whether he would attend Trump's February address, betting against his own plans to be there.
Total amount Santos agreed to pay to resolve the CFTC allegations.
As part of the settlement, Santos must forfeit more than $17,000 he allegedly earned from the unlawful trading and pay a $17,500 fine. He also received a three-year trading ban. Santos said he settled toتمر 'put this matter behind him' while maintaining he did not admit to any wrongdoing.
Santos chose a prompt resolution rather than costly litigation, not an admission of wrongdoing.
Kalshi had reported Santos to regulators. The platform said it will pursue its own enforcement action and work to reimburse traders if monetary penalties are recovered. Leading up to Trump's February speech, Santos had talked frequently about his plans to be in the crowd. Minutes into the speech, he posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport and could not make it to Capitol Hill.
Social media users called out Santos, noting that Kalshi had put the odds of his attending the address at close to 75%. Santos said on his podcast in March: 'I guess people lost money.' He shrugged off the social media complaints at the time. The federal probe into the Kalshi trading prompted rival platform Polymarket to cut ties with Santos in June.
There was absolutely no intent to deceive any person or manipulate any market.
Santos's lawyer said his client had a 'genuine intention' to attend the State of the Union, even booking a hotel and plane ticket before a winter storm scuttled the plans. Santos is set to appear on Fox's reality contest 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' this fall.
Santos shot to political fame after winning a seat representing parts of the New York City borough of Queens and Long Island. His bogus life story of being a wealthy Wall Street player with a college degree and other accomplishments quickly unraveled. He was eventually expelled from Congress and charged with federal wire fraud and identity theft charges. Santos pleaded guilty and served less than three months of a more than seven-year sentence before Trump granted him clemency last year.
