The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that a soldier named Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested and charged after allegedly betting on the removal of Venezuela’s former president, Nicolas Maduro, before the information was made public.
According to a published report, Dyke, who was involved in a military operation to capture Maduro, allegedly made more than $400,000 trading on Polymarket based on classified information regarding the timing of Maduro’s arrest.
Dyke is now charged with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft of classified information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an illegal money transaction. According to the indictment, prosecutors allege that he participated in the planning and execution of a military operation to capture Maduro, known as “Operation Absolute Resolve,” and used insider knowledge of the operation for profit. From December 8, 2025 to January 6, 2025, he had access to sensitive, non-public, classified information about the operation.
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“In connection with his work, Van Dyke signed non-disclosure agreements in which he promised to ‘never divulge, publish or disclose by writing, word, conduct or otherwise … any classified or sensitive information’ related to military operations,” the DOJ noted.
Here’s everything you need to know about Gannon Ken Van Dyke:
Van Dyke was an active duty soldier in the US Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, a military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A 38-year-old resident of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Van Dyke was charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act. According to the Department of Justice, each of these cases carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Charges against Van Dyke
1. Wire Fraud: The maximum penalty for committing wire fraud is 20 years in prison.
2. Commodity fraud: The maximum penalty could be up to 25 years in prison, according to Cornell Law School.
3. Illegal monetary transaction: The maximum sentence is 10 years.
In addition, Van Dyke also faces two criminal charges involving theft of government information and unlawful use of confidential government information.
Van Dyke used classified information to make money
Based on classified information he received, Van Dyke allegedly placed bets on Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-powered platform. All of his bets predicted Maduro’s fall and US forces taking action in Venezuela. Bets were made before the operation was made public, and on January 3 the US military completed it and brought Maduro and his wife to the US. Between December 27, 2025 and January 26, Van Dyke made approximately 13 bets totaling approximately $33,034.
Once news of the operation became public, all bets on Maduro and Venezuela were settled on the betting platform, and as his predictions proved correct, he earned over $400,000 (about 3 million Indian rupees).
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How did he make $400,000?
According to the report, the Justice Department noted that using his insider knowledge, Van Dyke secured the victory. After receiving the money, he moved most of it to a foreign cryptocurrency vault, from which he later transferred the money to a newly created brokerage account. During this time there were reports of unusual betting activity at Polymarket regarding the operation and when suspicions were raised, Van Dyke allegedly tried to cover up his actions.
Three days after the US military carried out the operation, Van Dyke asked Polymarket to delete his account, falsely claiming that he had lost access to his email to justify the deletion. At the same time, he changed the email address associated with his crypto account to another email address not associated with his name.
Reaction to Van Dyke’s removal and betting
Asked about alleged betting during an unrelated event, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had not heard about it but would look into it. When asked about concerns that prediction markets could lead to insider trading, the president said he was “not comfortable with any of those things.”
“Unfortunately, the whole world has become a bit of a casino, and if you look at what’s going on around the world, in Europe, in every place, they’re doing these betting things. I’ve never been very in favor of that,” Trump added.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information to carry out their missions as safely and effectively as possible and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain.
The Justice Department said Van Dyke was scheduled to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian S Meyers in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
