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A U.S. Army special forces soldier who made more than $400,000 in an online betting market on deposed Venezuelan Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s ouster has been charged by the Justice Department with using classified information.<\/p>\n
According to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, who was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, was involved in the \u201cplanning and execution\u201d of the U.S. operation that led to the Jan. 3 capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their Caracas compound.<\/p>\n
Van Dyke was charged with five counts: unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain; theft of nonpublic government information; commodities fraud; wire fraud; and making an unlawful monetary transaction.<\/p>\n
From Dec. 27, 2025, through Jan. 2, Van Dyke allegedly placed approximately 13 bets related to the Maduro operation on Polymarket, an online prediction marketplace that allows users to bet on the outcomes of future events.<\/p>\n
The soldier allegedly took the \u201cYes\u201d position on various wagers, including U.S. forces invading Venezuela and Maduro being out by Jan. 31. Van Dyke bet about $33,034 on those outcomes while in possession of classified information, according to the indictment, profiting approximately $409,881.<\/p>\n
The soldier allegedly placed most of the proceeds into a foreign cryptocurrency vault before depositing them into a newly created online brokerage account, the DOJ said.<\/p>\n
Then, after reports of unusual betting on prediction markets related to the Maduro raid surfaced, Van Dyke allegedly asked Polymarket to delete his account, falsely claiming he had lost access to the email associated with it. He also allegedly changed the email associated with his cryptocurrency exchange account to an address \u201cthat was not subscribed to in his name.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Jan. 3, just hours after the U.S. military apprehended Maduro and transported him to the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, a photo was uploaded to Van Dyke\u2019s Google account showing him standing \u201con what appears to be the deck of a ship at sea at sunrise, wearing U.S. military fatigues, and carrying a rifle,\u201d according to the indictment.<\/p>\n
Van Dyke joined the Army in 2008 and was promoted to the rank of master sergeant in 2023, per the indictment. As part of his work, Van Dyke signed nondisclosure agreements in which he promised to never divulge, publish or reveal \u201cany classified or sensitive information\u201d relating to military operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than safeguard that information as he was obligated to do, Van Dyke decided to use that classified information to place trades on a prediction market platform for his personal profit,\u201d the indictment alleges.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain,\u201d U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. \u201cThe defendant allegedly violated the trust placed in him by the United States Government by using classified information about a sensitive military operation to place bets on the timing and outcome of that very operation, all to turn a profit. That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Polymarket said it had cooperated with federal authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation,\u201d the company said in a post on X. \u201cInsider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today’s arrest is proof the system works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Online prediction markets have exploded in popularity in the past few years and come under scrutiny for suspiciously timed transactions related to military operations, including the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
The White House recently warned staffers against using insider information on the Iran war to bet on prediction markets.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers are considering legislation to rein in betting on certain events, such as terrorism, assassinations or war.<\/p>\n
Just this week, Kalshi, another popular prediction market, announced that it had fined and suspended three congressional candidates for wagering on the outcomes of their own elections.<\/p>\n
When asked by a reporter about the Van Dyke case late Thursday, President Trump initially compared it to that of MLB legend Pete Rose, who received a lifetime ban from baseball for betting on games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he betting that they would get [Maduro], or that they wouldn’t get him? That’s like Pete Rose betting on his own team,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThat’s a little like Pete Rose. Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame for betting on his own team. Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president went on to bemoan the rise of prediction markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd you look at what\u2019s going on all over the world, in Europe and every place, they\u2019re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor. I don\u2019t like it, conceptually, but it is what it is. No, I think that I\u2019m not happy with any of that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n