A former White House teleprompter operator has been ordered to pay more than $172,000 after federal regulators found that he used nonpublic information about President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets on the prediction market Kalshi.
Gabriel Perez must surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty under a settlement announced Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The regulator also imposed a three-year trading ban and said Perez had agreed to cease further violations of federal market rules.
The CFTC said Perez placed bets between December 2025 and February 2026 on words or phrases Trump might use during public addresses.
His position operating White House teleprompters gave him access to speeches before they were delivered, allowing him to trade with information unavailable to other market participants.
The agency said Perez “misappropriated” that information for personal benefit and breached his duty of trust and confidence.
The CFTC said the financial penalty represented a substantial reduction because of Perez’s “exemplary cooperation” during the investigation.
Perez had reportedly been placed on unpaid leave while authorities examined whether he used advance knowledge to earn more than $100,000, including through bets linked to Trump’s State of the Union address in February.
The White House said in July that Perez would not return to his position, although it remained unclear whether he resigned or was dismissed.
Kalshi previously said its analysts detected unusual activity involving so-called mention markets, where traders wager on whether speakers will use particular words or terms.
The company said account information helped it identify the trader as a federal employee working with White House teleprompters, after which it reported the activity to regulators.
Kalshi’s lead lawyer Bobby DeNault welcomed the CFTC action, while the regulator thanked the company for its assistance.
The settlement comes as prediction markets face scrutiny over the potential for people with privileged information to profit from contracts tied to public events.
In July, the White House Management Office also instructed aides not to place bets on prediction markets, according to administration officials cited by CBS News.