U.S. soldier involved in Maduro capture accused of profiting from knowledge of raid on Polymarket

A U.S. Soldier mired in the military machine performance to trance Venezuelan chairperson Nicolás Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 US in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke was part of the operation to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to profit on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor's office in New York said.

Van Dyke was involved in planning and carrying out the operation to capture Maduro for about a month beginning Dec. 8, 2025, according to the federal prosecutor's office. He signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge "any classified or sensitive information" related to the operations, the office said.

Officials allege that Van Dyke created a Polymarket account toward the end of December and made about 13 bets taking the "Yes" position on such wagers as U.S. Forces being in Venezuela and Maduro being out by Jan. 31, 2026.

He has been charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the announcement makes clear that no one is above the law.

"Any clearance holders thinking of cashing in their access and knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable," he said in a statement.

Officials allege that shortly after the operation, Van Dyke moved most of the money he won into a foreign cryptocurrency vault and then into a new brokerage account. He also asked Polymarket to delete his account, saying he had lost access to his email associated with it, according to the federal prosecutor's office.

Van Dyke was a senior enlisted soldier who was part of the special forces community and stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., according to the indictment, though it offers few other details about his military service.

However, the document says Van Dyke was photographed following the raid on the deck of a ship "wearing U.S. Military fatigues, and carrying a rifle, standing alongside three other individuals wearing U.S. Military fatigues."

The Pentagon referred questions on the case to the Army and the Department of Justice. U.S. Special Operations Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Van Dyke joined the Army in 2008 and, in 2023, was promoted to the rank of master sergeant, the second-highest enlisted rank in the Army, according to the indictment.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that a group of new accounts on Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. And Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for these new customers.

On the same day the AP published the report, the White House warned staff against using private information to trade on prediction markets.

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