Home United States USA — Criminal FBI raided home of Polymarket CEO over alleged illegal bets by US...

FBI raided home of Polymarket CEO over alleged illegal bets by US users: sources

84
0
SHARE

The United States Department of Justice ordered a raid on Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan’s home on Wednesday for allegedly accepting illegal bets from US users, sources told The Post.
The FBI’s shocking predawn raid against the founder of election gambling site Polymarket was part of a criminal probe into whether the startup accepted bets from US users — which would violate a deal the company had made with the government, The Post has learned.
The Department of Justice ordered Wednesday’s “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the Manhattan apartment of Shayne Coplan as part of its joint investigation with the FBI, sources told The Post.
As The Post exclusively reported, the feds executed a search warrant to seize electronic devices including the phone of Coplan, the 26-year-old tech whiz behind the popular site that correctly predicted Donald Trump’s easy victory over Vice President Kamala Harris last week — outperforming polls forecasting a close race.
Coplan was not arrested and has not been charged, a Polymarket spokesperson told The Post.
The FBI and the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on the 6 a.m. raid on Coplan’s Soho pad.
However, two sources close to the matter told The Post on Thursday that it is their “understanding” that the federal investigation relates to allegations of illegal betting.
Polymarket said the company would “stand up for ourselves and our community.”
“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections,” the company said in a statement.
Sources had previously told The Post they suspected the raid was political retribution by the defeated Biden-Harris administration.
Coplan, whose company has received funding from prominent Republican backers including Peter Thiel, echoed the allegation in a post on X late Wednesday.

Continue reading...