On Jan. 3, U.S. military forces carried out a highly classified operation in Caracas to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
According to residents, the night of the operation initially appeared routine, but explosions and flashes of light quickly signaled something was wrong. The mission caught many by surprise, and Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into custody.
But a new federal case alleges that one of the soldiers involved in the operation used his access to classified information to profit from prediction market bets.
Federal authorities this week arrested and charged U.S. Special Forces soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who prosecutors say wagered about $33,000 on the outcome of the Maduro operation through the platform Polymarket. He allegedly earned more than $400,000 from those bets.
According to authorities, Van Dyke placed multiple bets between late December 2025 and January 2026 using nonpublic information obtained through his role in planning and executing the mission.
He faces charges including unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and engaging in unlawful financial transactions, the Justice Department said.
As noted by NBC News, prosecutors allege that shortly after Maduro was taken into custody and transported aboard the USS Iwo Jima, a photo of Van Dyke was uploaded to his Google account showing him on what appeared to be the deck of a ship at sunrise, dressed in military gear alongside other armed personnel.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees prediction markets, also filed civil charges against Van Dyke, seeking financial penalties and a ban on future trading activity.
According to the agency, Van Dyke used his knowledge of the operation to purchase hundreds of thousands of "Yes" shares tied to a contract predicting Maduro would be removed from power by Jan. 31, 2026.
After the operation, prosecutors say Van Dyke moved most of his earnings to a foreign cryptocurrency account before transferring funds into a newly created brokerage account.
Authorities also allege that days after the operation, he contacted Polymarket requesting deletion of his account, falsely claiming he had lost access to his email.
"All members of the government, including service members, owe a duty of trust and confidentiality," said David I. Miller, director of enforcement. "The defendant abused that trust by misusing highly sensitive information and putting national security at risk."
In a statement shared on social media, Polymarket said insider trading "has no place" on its platform and described the case as evidence that enforcement mechanisms are working.
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