Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed criminal charges Wednesday against prediction-market operator Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, accusing them of promoting gambling in a state that bans it, local and national outlets reported^1,2,4.

Charging papers name KalshiEX LLC, Mansour, and Lopes Lara on 12 third-degree felony counts of online gambling promotion, a second-degree felony pattern-of-unlawful-activity count, and a class A misdemeanor for general gambling promotion, FOX 13 Salt Lake City said after obtaining the documents⁴.

Ars Technica, citing the same filings, said each defendant faces 13 felonies and one misdemeanor tied to sports bets offered on Kalshi between Sept. 13 and Sept. 24¹.

A probable-cause affidavit described an attorney general investigator creating an account from a Utah IP address, with a Utah residence, phone number, and bank, then wagering on athletic events, FOX 13 reported⁴.

Brown said gambling remains illegal in Utah whether a person places a bet, runs a game, or promotes it, and that a federal court had already held that Utah's laws apply to Kalshi^2,4.

Kalshi called the case a political overreach and said it would fight the charges in court as it did in Arizona, according to statements carried by Ars Technica, Utah News Dispatch, and The Verge^1,2,3.

The criminal case follows a civil suit Brown filed last week seeking to stop Kalshi from offering sports, election, and other event contracts in Utah, KSL reported⁵.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah this week, arguing that CFTC-registered designated contract markets and approved event contracts fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction and are not gambling under the Commodity Exchange Act^1,5.

Kalshi had sued first to block Utah enforcement; a federal judge refused an injunction and the 10th Circuit rejected an emergency stay, FOX 13 said⁴.

The Verge placed Utah among several states suing Kalshi or Polymarket, noting Arizona's earlier criminal case was blocked in federal court and that appeals courts have split on whether the CFTC alone regulates prediction markets³.

What happens next in Salt Lake County court, and how the CFTC lawsuit will interact with the state criminal case, was not resolved in Wednesday's filings^1,5.