Kalshi bans former U.S. Representative George Santos for its first ever lifetime ban

(NBC, KYMA) - Former U.S. Representative George Santos has become the answer to a Jeopardy! clue after being the first person ever given a lifetime ban from the prediction marketplace platform Kalshi.

The platform's compliance department found that Santos bet against his own publicly stated plan to attend President Trump's State of the Union address earlier this year.

Along with the ban, Kalshi fined Santos $71,356 after he made $17,839.57 on "No" contracts by saying he missed the event because he was delayed at an airport.

The platform said the additional penalties followed his failure to cooperate fully with the investigation.

This is not Santos' first run in with federal regulators. Last month, he agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a federal Futures Trading Commission investigation into suspicious trades.

In 2024, President Trump commuted his sentence after Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering.