Special forces soldier arrested for allegedly betting on Maduro raid — and winning $400K
The daring raid that captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro has also landed one special forces soldier in hot water after he allegedly won $400,000 on a prediction market.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was charged with personally benefiting from the use of classified information after betting $33,000 on the timing of the raid, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
'Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today's arrest is proof the system works.'
Van Dyke was reportedly a part of the planning of Operation Absolute Resolve between December 8, 2025, and January 6, 2026, and had access to classified information during that time.
At the end of December, Van Dyke allegedly created a Polymarket account and began making more than a dozen bets related to the raid.
When news of the trade began to make headlines, Van Dyke then allegedly took efforts to conceal his actions by trying to delete the Polymarket account and transferring the money to cryptocurrency accounts.
Polymarket said on social media that it had cooperated with the investigation.
"Last month, we published our enhanced market integrity rules to combat insider trading," the company said. "When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation. Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today's arrest is proof the system works."
The indictment said Van Dyke was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina when he allegedly made the transactions on Polymarket.
President Donald Trump was asked about the case and likened it to baseball legend Pete Rose betting on himself.
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"Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain," said U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton.
"The defendant allegedly violated the trust placed in him by the United States Government by using classified information about a sensitive military operation to place bets on the timing and outcome of that very operation, all to turn a profit," he added. "That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law."
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