U.S. soldier charged over bets tied to Maduro raid

April 24, 2026

Summary

Prosecutors said a U.S. soldier used classified information to make more than $400,000 betting on the Maduro raid.

Why this matters

The case tests how insider information laws apply to prediction markets and highlights legal risks tied to wagering on sensitive government operations.

A U.S. Army soldier who took part in the raid that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged with using classified information to profit from wagers on the mission’s outcome, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.

Prosecutors alleged Gannon Ken Van Dyke made more than $400,000 in profits from bets on the prediction market Polymarket.

Van Dyke was indicted on charges of unlawful use of government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful money transaction, according to a Justice Department news release.

He was scheduled to appear on Thursday before a judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The department said Van Dyke made about 13 bets from Dec. 27, 2025, through the evening of Jan. 26. Those bets all took the “YES” position on U.S. forces in Venezuela by Jan. 31, Maduro out by Jan. 31, and other markets tied to the Maduro raid, prosecutors alleged.

“Van Dyke bet a total of approximately $33,034 on those outcomes while in possession of classified nonpublic information about Operation Absolute Resolve,” the release said.

U.S. special forces captured Maduro early on Jan. 3 in Operation Absolute Resolve, then moved him and his wife, Cilia Flores, to New York, where they are being held on charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking.

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