A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the January military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the raid to profit more than $400,000 through online betting, federal authorities revealed Thursday.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, allegedly exploited his access to sensitive military intelligence to place a series of bets on Polymarket—a major prediction market platform—wagering that Maduro would be removed from power. The charges mark a serious breach of security protocols and represent one of the most brazen examples of insider trading involving classified government operations.
The Scheme Unravels
Van Dyke was deeply involved in planning and executing the Maduro capture operation from December 8, 2025, onwards. Despite signing nondisclosure agreements explicitly prohibiting disclosure of classified or sensitive information, prosecutors say he systematically traded on this knowledge.
On December 26, the soldier transferred $35,000 from his personal bank account to a cryptocurrency exchange. Between December 30 and January 2, 2026, he placed multiple bets on Maduro's removal—with the vast majority of trades occurring just hours before U.S. military forces descended on Caracas in the early morning of January 3.
"This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to profit off of a righteous military operation," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.
Staggering Profits
Van Dyke's betting strategy proved extraordinarily lucrative. His wagers on Maduro leaving power generated more than $404,000 in profits, according to federal complaints. Additional bets on Venezuela-related contracts netted an additional $5,000.
The timing was virtually impossible to explain as coincidence: Van Dyke placed his largest bets on the night of January 2—mere hours before the first missiles struck targets in Caracas and before President Donald Trump posted photos of the captured Venezuelan leader on Truth Social early January 3.
Multiple Federal Charges
The U.S. Justice Department has charged Van Dyke with five counts: unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction. He faces potential years in federal prison.
The Federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees prediction markets, filed parallel charges Thursday, providing additional regulatory pressure on the accused soldier.
Platform Cooperation
Polymarket, which operates as one of the world's largest prediction market platforms, stated that it independently detected unusual trading activity suggesting insider knowledge of classified information. The company immediately alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and provided full cooperation to investigators.
"Insider trading has no place on Polymarket," the platform said in a statement. "When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ and cooperated with their investigation. Last month, we published enhanced market integrity rules to combat insider trading."
As of Thursday, no attorney had been listed for Van Dyke, and a telephone number in public records associated with him was not in service.
This story is based on reporting from CBC News and The Associated Press.