3 min readApr 24, 2026 09:41 AM IST
First published on: Apr 24, 2026 at 09:30 AM IST
A soldier from US special forces involved in the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been arrested for using classified information about the raid to win over $400,000 in an online betting market, The Guardian reported.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who played a role in the operation to capture Maduro in January, used his access to classified intelligence to mint a huge amount of money on Polymarket. This trading of confidential information on the prediction market site could now lead him to years in prison.
The charges the soldier is facing
The charges against him are listed as follows: unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, making an unlawful monetary transaction, theft of nonpublic government information, wire fraud, and commodities fraud.
How the soldier misused confidential information
Involved in planning and executing the operation of capturig Mduor, for a month since Dece3mber 8, he had signed documents promising that he would not divulge any “classified or sensitive” details of the raid. However, soon after Van Dyke created a Polymarket account bythe end of December. He made about 13 bets taking “Yes” position on wagers as US Forces landing Venezuela and Maduro being taken out by Jan. 31, 2026. Officials alleged soon after the operation, Van Dyke put a major chunk of his winning amount in a foreign cryptocurrency vault and then transferred into a new brokerage account. He even asked Polymarket to delete his account, claiming that he lost access to the email with which he logged in to the account.
How the illegal transaction came to light
Polymarket stated it had found out that some person trading on classified government information and alerted the U.S. Department of Justice. They “cooperated with their investigation” after that. “Insider trading has no place on Polymarket,” the firm said in a statement on X.
The Associated Press, earlier this month, had reported that a group of new accounts on Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the US and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7. These fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits to these new customers. On the same day as the report, the White House warned staff against using confidential details to trade on prediction markets.
What US government says
“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. A publicly listed telephone number for Van Dyke was out of service and hence it could niot be confirmed if he has a legal representation.
— with inputs from The Guardian and AP
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gives a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace, March 12, 2020, in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/File) 
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