A U.S. Army special forces soldier who participated in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is set to appear in court on Friday, facing charges that he leveraged classified mission details to secure more than $400,000 through an online prediction market.
Charges Filed
Federal prosecutors allege that Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, stationed at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, North Carolina, exploited his access to confidential operational information to profit on Polymarket, a platform where users bet on event outcomes. The charges, filed Thursday, include unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction. If convicted, Van Dyke could face significant prison time. A publicly listed phone number for Van Dyke is no longer in service, and court records do not yet list an attorney representing him.
Details of the Alleged Scheme
According to the New York federal prosecutor’s office, Van Dyke was involved in planning and executing the Maduro capture operation for approximately one month. He signed nondisclosure agreements pledging not to reveal any classified or sensitive information related to the mission. However, prosecutors contend that he used this knowledge to place a series of bets on the likelihood of Maduro being removed from power by January 31, 2026.
FBI Director Kash Patel commented on the case via social media, stating, “This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to profit off of a righteous military operation.”
Polymarket's Response
Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets, reported that it identified unusual trading activity potentially linked to classified government information. The platform alerted the Justice Department and cooperated fully with the investigation. The massive profits generated by these well-timed bets drew public attention soon after the Venezuela raid, prompting bipartisan calls for stricter regulation of prediction markets, where individuals can wager on virtually any topic.
Regulatory Action
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency overseeing prediction markets, announced on Thursday that it had filed a parallel complaint against Van Dyke. The complaint alleges that on December 26—just over a week before U.S. forces launched the operation in Caracas—Van Dyke transferred $35,000 from his personal bank account into a cryptocurrency exchange account. He then placed a series of bets between December 30 and January 2 on when Maduro might be ousted, with the majority occurring on the night of January 2, mere hours before the first missiles struck Caracas.
These bets yielded more than $404,000 in profits, according to the complaint. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig emphasized the gravity of the alleged misconduct, saying, “The defendant was entrusted with confidential information about U.S. operations and yet took action that endangered U.S. national security and put the lives of American service members in harm’s way.”
