Gannon Ken Van Dyke Charged Over Polymarket Bets Using Classified Info on Maduro Raid

A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the operation that removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro from office has been charged after federal authorities alleged he used classified information about the raid to place prediction market bets.

“DOJ arrests soldier who made $400,000 betting on Maduro's removal Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who allegedly placed the bet, helped with Maduro's capture”

ABC News

NBC News reports the soldier was identified as Gannon Ken Van Dyke, and that Van Dyke “bet a total of approximately $33,034” on the Maduro operation on Polymarket, according to a news release announcing the indictment.

ABC News

NBC News also says Van Dyke “ultimately made more than $409,000 as a result of the bets placed on the U.S. operation,” and that the Justice Department alleged he “participated in the planning and execution of the U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro.”

The BBC similarly reports that Van Dyke won more than $409,000 (£303,702) as a result of his bets on the removal of Maduro, and that the DOJ charged him after he allegedly bet before the information was publicly available.

ABC News adds that Van Dyke “bet more than $33,000 on the prediction market Polymarket just days before President Donald Trump announced Maduro's capture,” and that the bets “netted more than $409,000.”

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett, and NBC News says the court docket does not list his next appearance.

Prosecutors described a tight sequence of events in which Van Dyke allegedly created a Polymarket account, placed bets, and then attempted to obscure his trading activity after the raid.

NBC News says Van Dyke made “approximately 13 bets from Dec. 27, 2025, through the evening of Jan. 26,” and it reports that “Just hours after the U.S. government apprehended Maduro and transported him aboard the USS Iwo Jima,” prosecutors alleged a photograph of Van Dyke was taken and uploaded to his Google account.

Associated Press

NBC News adds that the indictment alleged the photograph showed Van Dyke “on what appeared to be the deck of a ship at sea during sunrise,” wearing “U.S. military fatigues” and carrying “a rifle with three others.”

ABC News reports that Van Dyke allegedly tried to hide the evidence of the trades by “attempting to delete his Polymarket account and change the email address registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account,” after he saw reports of unusual trading associated with the mission.

The BBC says the DOJ alleges that on or about 26 December 2025, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and began trading on Maduro and Venezuela-related markets, and that he made bets of more than $33,000 while in possession of classified nonpublic information about Operation Absolute Resolve.

The Independent adds that Van Dyke was “involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve” beginning around December 8 through at least January 6, and it states that he had “access to sensitive, nonpublic, classified information about that operation.”

CNBC further reports that the indictment says Van Dyke became involved in the planning of the Maduro mission on Dec. 8 and that on Dec. 26 he created a Polymarket account and began trading on markets related to questions about Maduro and Venezuela.

Federal prosecutors charged Van Dyke with multiple offenses tied to the alleged use of classified information and the resulting trades.

NBC News lists the charges as “unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction.”

ABC News says Van Dyke was indicted on charges that included “unlawful use of confidential information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, and wire fraud,” and it quotes the indictment’s framing that “Rather 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.”

The BBC reports that Van Dyke has been charged with “unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction,” according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday.

NBC News also says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates Polymarket, “said it was also hitting Van Dyke with civil charges,” and it quotes the CFTC’s stated aims: it “seeks restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.”

CNBC adds that Van Dyke faces a maximum possible sentence of “20 years in prison if convicted of the top criminal count, wire fraud, and up to 10 years in each of the remaining counts.”

The Independent quotes acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying, “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.”

The arrest triggered immediate public reactions from senior U.S. officials and from the prediction market platform that Van Dyke allegedly used.

NBC News quotes acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying, “Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible,” and that they “are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain.”

Bolsamania

NBC News also quotes FBI Director Kash Patel saying the indictment “makes clear no one is above the law, and this FBI will do whatever it takes to defend the homeland and safeguard our nation’s secrets.”

Polymarket responded in a statement posted on X, with NBC News reporting the company said, “When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation.”

NBC News adds that Polymarket said, “Insider trading has no place on Polymarket,” and it stated, “Today's arrest is proof the system works.”

CNN reports that the arrest “could signal harsher law enforcement scrutiny into the industry,” and it describes the case as the first known example of U.S. authorities charging someone with insider trading on prediction markets.

President Donald Trump also weighed in, with NBC News quoting him saying, “I don’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is now,” and it quotes him comparing the situation to “Pete Rose betting on his own team.”

Beyond the individual case, multiple outlets connected Van Dyke’s arrest to broader concerns about prediction markets and national security, as well as to questions about how regulators will respond.

The Hill quotes national security expert Alex Goldenberg saying, “The issue isn’t the soldier ‘betting on himself’ it’s that adversaries can read the order book,” and it adds that “Prediction markets on military ops are a real-time intelligence feed for our enemies.”

CBS News

The Hill also quotes former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall saying, “All it takes is monitoring for patterns that deviate from established norms,” and it includes Kendall’s warning that “It’s also easy for our enemies to set traps by encouraging betting in areas they are trying to collect intelligence on.”

CNN frames the arrest as part of a broader “pattern of suspicious trades on prediction markets,” and it describes how federal prosecutors said Van Dyke used knowledge of the classified raid to place bets that “won him about $400,000 in profits.”

CNN also situates the case within a larger debate about prediction markets, noting that Iran war bets are prohibited by U.S. federal law but that “the Maduro-related bets were placed on Polymarket’s offshore site, unfettered by these restrictions.”

NBC News reports that the CFTC “said it was also hitting Van Dyke with civil charges,” and it quotes the agency’s stated enforcement goals including “a permanent injunction against further violations.”

The Independent adds that the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in the early morning hours of January 3 led to them being transported to New York to face allegations of weapon and drug offences, which they deny, and it reports that they “will remain imprisoned as a legal battle continues.”