US soldier charged after winning $400,000 betting on removal of Maduro
Summary
A US special forces soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, has been charged for making illegal bets using secret information about a military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. He used a crypto betting platform called Polymarket to place bets before the operation was made public and won over $400,000.Key Facts
- Van Dyke is an active-duty US Army soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
- He allegedly used classified information about Operation Absolute Resolve to place bets on Polymarket.
- The operation led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Venezuela on January 3, 2026.
- Van Dyke created his Polymarket account around December 26, 2025, before the raid occurred.
- He won more than $409,000 from betting on the timing and results of the military raid.
- The US Department of Justice charged him with insider trading and related crimes, including theft of government information and wire fraud.
- Polymarket cooperated with the investigation and reported the suspicious trading to authorities.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed a complaint against Van Dyke for insider trading.
- President Donald Trump said he had not heard about the case but would investigate and expressed disapproval of betting on such events.
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