A U.S. Army soldier was accused of making more than $400,000 trading on Polymarket based on the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. military forces, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was 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 the unsealed indictment, Van Dyke participated in the planning and execution of the operation to capture Maduro, called "Operation Absolute Resolve," and used classified information to make wagers on the prediction marketplace.
"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."
FBI Director Kash Patel warned that any "clearance holders thinking of cashing in their access and knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable."
Van Dyke has been an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, and signed nondisclosure agreements in which he promised to "never divulge, publish, or reveal by writing, words, conduct, or otherwise . . . any classified or sensitive information" relating to military operations, per the indictment. Van Dyke allegedly created a Polymarket account and began trading on Maduro- and Venezuela-related markets around Dec. 26, 2025 and made approximately 13 bets from Dec. 27, 2025, through the evening of Jan. 26, 2026.
The indictment alleges that while Van Dyke had knowledge of classified information, he bet a total of approximately $33,034 on bets that took the "YES" position on "U.S. Forces in Venezuela . . . by January 31, 2026"; "Maduro out by . . . January 31, 2026"; "Will the U.S. invade Venezuela by . . . January 31,"; or "Trump invokes War Powers against Venezuela by . . . January 31."
Hours after President Donald Trump announced the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, Polymarket resolved several Maduro- and Venezuela-related contracts to "YES," and as a result, Van Dyke allegedly won his wagers and profited approximately $409,881.
The DOJ claimed that afterwards, Van Dyke transferred most of his winnings to a foreign cryptocurrency vault before moving them into a newly created online brokerage account. Van Dyke allegedly attempted to conceal his identity as a trader and requested Polymarket delete his account on the platform - claiming that he had lost access to the account's email address.
"Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said. "Those entrusted to safeguard our nation's secrets have a duty to protect them and our armed service members, and not to use that information for personal financial gain."
