Federal agents arrested a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier involved in the deadly operation to arrest ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro after allegedly winning more than $400,000 from Polymarket bets on his capture.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, is charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
He also faces one count of wire fraud and one count of an unlawful monetary transaction.
Van Dyke allegedly used his access to classified information in a series of bets waging more than $33,000 on the prediction market hours before Donald Trump announced Maduro’s capture in January, according to Thursday’s indictment unsealed in New York federal court.
“Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
“Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply,” he added.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that “any clearance holders thinking of cashing in their access and knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable.”
Federal prosecutors allege Maduro led a conspiracy to ship drugs from Venezuela to the United States via the Caribbean and Central America using fishing boats and container ships as well as clandestine airstrips and commercial airports protected by “corrupt government and military officials,” according to an indictment against the ousted president, his wife Cilia Flores and others.
His capture in the early morning hours of January 3 marked the culmination of Trump’s months-long pressure campaign to topple the Venezuelan government and deploy U.S. oil companies into the country.
After U.S. military assets launched a lethal operation in Caracas, federal law enforcement officers brought a handcuffed Maduro to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, where he will remain imprisoned as a legal battle continues.
Van Dyke was stationed at Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina when he was “involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve” beginning around December 8 through at least January 6, according to the indictment against him.
He had “access to sensitive, nonpublic, classified information about that operation,” prosecutors said.
Last year, Polymarket began offering prediction events based on U.S. actions in Venezuela, including the likelihood of U.S. forces entering the country and whether Maduro would be tossed out.
On Dec. 26, 2025, Van Dyke” created a Polymarket account, funded it, and began trading on Maduro- and Venezuela-related markets,” according to prosecutors.
He made at least 13 bets between December 27 through January 26, all of which took the “yes” position on U.S. involvement.
“Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.
“The 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,” he said. “That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law.”
This is a developing story
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