NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Disgraced former Congressman agreed Friday to pay $35,000 to settle a federal investigation into his on the prediction marketplace Kalshi after he bet against his own plans to attend President Donald Trump鈥檚 State of the Union.
The onetime Republican lawmaker from New York said he settled with the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission to 鈥減ut this matter behind him,鈥� noting that he did not admit to doing anything wrong.
鈥淗e chose a prompt, practical resolution, rather than protracted, costly litigation, and that choice should not be mistaken for admission of any wrongdoing, because it is not one,鈥� Santos鈥� lawyer Joseph Murray said in a statement Santos .
The commission said Friday鈥檚 settlement the more than $17,000 Santos earned from the unlawful trading as well as a fine of $17,500. The agency also imposed a three-year trading ban on Santos.
Kalshi, which had reported Santos to regulators, said it will also 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. But minutes into the speech, he to say that he had been waylaid at the airport and couldn鈥檛 make it to Capitol Hill.
Social media users called him out, noting that Kalshi had put the odds of Santos attending the address at close to 75%.
Santos shrugged off the complaints at the time.
鈥淚 guess people lost money,鈥� he said on his podcast in March. 鈥淪ome people made unexpected money. That鈥檚 to show you how fragile these markets are.鈥�
But the federal probe into the Kalshi trading prompted rival online prediction platform Polymarket to in June.
Santos鈥� lawyer, in his statement Friday, said his client had a 鈥済enuine intention鈥� to attend the State of the Union, even booking a hotel and plane ticket before a winter storm scuttled the plans.
鈥淢r. Santos concealed neither his intention to attend, nor his change of plans to not attend the SOTU, from anyone,” Murray said. 鈥淭here was absolutely no intent to deceive any person, nor intent to manipulate any market.”
Santos, who is on Fox鈥檚 reality contest 鈥淪pecial Forces: World鈥檚 Toughest Test鈥� this fall, shot to political fame after winning a seat representing parts of the New York City borough of Queens and Long Island.
But his bogus life story of being a wealthy Wall Street player with a college degree and other accomplishments quickly unraveled.
Santos was eventually expelled from Congress and charged with and identity theft charges as investigators probed how he funded his campaign. He pleaded guilty and served less than three months of a more than seven-year sentence before Trump last year.
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