President Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, is under investigation for allegedly taking advantage of prior knowledge of the president’s speeches to place bets, raking in thousands of dollars.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, ABC News reported on Thursday that federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found that “Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator is believed to have made tens of thousands of dollars by placing bets on dozens of the president’s speeches on Kalshi.

“Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president who has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations he used his inside knowledge of the president’s speeches to win more than $100,000,” the report stated.

It added that investigators discovered Mr Perez placed bets on more than a dozen of Mr Trump’s speeches over a three-month period, including a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Mr Trump’s remarks during a Medal of Honor ceremony in March.

According to the sources, Kalshi alerted its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to the suspicious activity on its “Mentions” market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases or topics are uttered during a public speech.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a press briefing on Thursday, said the teleprompter operator “cited in that report is complying with the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and has been placed on administrative leave.”