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What is El Cartel?
Kalshi enforced penalties under multiple exchange rules designed to mirror federal market regulations. These include prohibitions on trading when a participant can influence the outcome of an event, trading on material non-public information and engaging in manipulative or fraudulent practices.
The sanctions, effective from 28 August 2026 , bar Santos from any direct or indirect trading access on Kalshi.
Earlier this year, fellow prediction market platform Polymarket also ended its paid relationship with Santos amid a Department of Justice investigation over whether he had placed a wager on his appearance at the same State of Union address.
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Under Section 106 of New Zealand’s Gambling Act 2003, a class 4 licence holder, also known as a “corporate society” by the regulator, “must apply or distribute the net proceeds from class 4 gambling only to or for an authorised purpose specified in the corporate society’s licence”.
The DIA worked directly with class 4 gambling operators (commonly known as pokies trusts), and discovered ‘widespread issues’ such as cases where money that should have been available for community grants was instead spent on society expenses, such as the purchase of additional gaming machines.
Vicki Scott, the DIA’s director of gambling, said the investigation had delivered significant results, while stressing that work to improve compliance and ensure communities received their share of gambling proceeds would continue.
What is El Cartel?
Almost six in 10 (57%) of the sports betting demographic said they bet weekly, with 17% betting on a daily basis. Nearly one in five (19%) said they have outstanding sports betting debts.
Frequent bettors are significantly more likely to report that their betting habits are impacting other corners of their financial lives. Of those who bet daily on sports, 40% say they have debts that they attribute to wagers they made,” the report said.
“Nearly half of all respondents (45%) say they’ve borrowed money to place sports bets, with 13% taking out a personal loan to bankroll their betting and 11% securing funds through a high-interest payday loan,” the report continued.
