Utah summonses Kalshi founders for Dec. 4 criminal court appearance

Utah has issued summonses requiring Kalshi chief executive Tarek Mansour and co-founder Luana Lopes Lara to appear in Salt Lake City’s Third District Court on Dec. 4, bringing the company’s founders into the next procedural step of the state’s criminal gambling prosecution.

The summonses were sought in place of arrest warrants, according to DeFiRate. Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach highlighted the development in a Nov. 6 post, saying Kalshi faced 14 criminal counts and had been ordered to make a personal appearance at 8:30 a.m. for an initial appearance or arraignment.

Utah’s Oct. 28 charging document named KalshiEX LLC, Mansour and Lopes Lara as defendants. It alleges a pattern of unlawful activity involving online gambling promotion in Salt Lake and Davis counties between Sept. 13 and Sept. 26.

As reported Oct. 28, Utah brought the criminal case after alleging that an undercover investigator was able to place 12 sports-related trades from within the state. The charging document says Agent Scott Eggerman used a Utah address, phone number and locally issued debit card to open an account, then placed wagers on NFL, NCAA, MLS, MLB and NHL events, including game and quarter scores and passing and rushing yards.

Utah contends that Kalshi’s sports contracts violate a state gambling prohibition. The state’s constitution bars the Legislature from authorizing gambling, while the attorney general’s office has argued that Kalshi made wagers on sports, elections, politics and other outcomes available to Utah residents.

Kalshi and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have taken the opposite position, arguing that the contracts trade on a federally regulated derivatives exchange and that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Utah’s enforcement approach. That dispute has not halted the criminal prosecution: a separate Justice Department and CFTC suit against Utah does not reverse U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby’s August ruling for Utah or suspend the state case.

Shelby held that federal law did not override Utah’s gambling laws, and the Tenth Circuit denied Kalshi’s request for interim protection while its appeal proceeds. Utah’s criminal case followed an Oct. 20 civil lawsuit seeking to stop Kalshi’s Utah operations and obtain financial recovery and geolocation controls.