CFTC v. George Santos (price manipulation, 2026)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.
In July 2026 the CFTC issued an order settling charges against former Congressman George Santos for manipulative trading in a State of the Union attendance event contract whose outcome he controlled, between February 12 and 25, 2026, to move the swap price. He pays $17,570 in disgorgement and a $17,500 penalty and is banned from trading for three years.
The record
| Agency | CFTC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 9276-26 |
| Date filed | 2026-07-31 |
| Date resolved | 2026-07-31 |
| Status | settled |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Bars imposed | trading ban |
| Defendants | George Santos |
| Techniques | Price manipulation |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- $17.5k
- Disgorgement
- $17.6k
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- $35.1k
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on July 31, 2026 as release 9276-26. The respondents named are George Santos (1 individual, 0 entities).
This library tags the matter as price manipulation, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.
The relief recorded in our data is a civil monetary penalty of $17,500, disgorgement of $17,570. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.
Non-monetary relief recorded: trading ban.
For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.
What technique is this, and how does it work?
This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.
- Price manipulation — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Timeline
- 2026-07-31 CFTC release published
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.
Related actions
Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.