A former White House teleprompter operator has agreed to pay $172,000 to settle U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges that he traded prediction-market contracts using advance knowledge of presidential speeches.
In an order issued Friday, the CFTC said Gabriel Perez misappropriated confidential government information to trade "presidential mention market" contracts, event contracts that pay out based on whether a president uses specific words or phrases in a speech. The agency said Perez's role gave him access to speeches before they were delivered, allowing him to wager on outcomes he already knew.
CFTC details profits and settlement terms
According to the order, Perez used that advantage between December 2025 and February 2026 to generate more than $107,500 in profits.
Under the settlement, he must disgorge $107,539.02 in gains and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. He also agreed to a three-year trading ban and to cease further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.
Penalty reduced under cooperation policy
The regulator said the penalty was steeply discounted under a new cooperation policy. The CFTC cited what it described as Perez's exemplary assistance with the investigation and also credited exchange operator Kalshi for helping with the case.
Prediction markets face renewed insider-trading scrutiny
The order stands as one of the clearest examples so far of insider-trading risks hanging over prediction markets as the sector grows. These platforms let users place real-money bets on real-world outcomes, covering elections, sports, and increasingly the details of political speeches. That structure creates an opening for anyone with nonpublic information to profit.
The concern has already surfaced in other cases. Earlier this year, a U.S. soldier was charged over alleged Polymarket trading and more than $400,000 in ill-gotten gains tied to the military operation that ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. In a separate matter, a MrBeast video editor was fired in March during a Kalshi insider-trading probe.
Kalshi reviews suspicious activity as regulation tightens
Kalshi has been working through a backlog of suspicious-activity reviews. The exchange has also rolled out new safeguards as scrutiny increases over whether insiders are exploiting its markets.
The case lands as prediction markets move deeper into the mainstream, drawing billions in volume and more regulatory attention. It also highlights the CFTC's position that event contracts fall squarely within its authority as swaps subject to insider-trading rules.