United States soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been arrested and charged for putting bets on prediction market Polymarket utilizing labeled data he had entry to associated to the seize of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The US Military Particular Forces grasp sergeant, who was immediately concerned with the planning and execution of the operation, allegedly made $409,881 in earnings.
In response to the Division of Justice, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account round December 26, 2025 and made 13 bets associated to Maduro from December 27 to January 2. He took the “Sure” place on a number of Polymarket wagers, together with “US Forces in Venezuela… by January 31, 2026,” “Maduro out by… January 31, 2026, “Will the US invade Venezuela by January 31” and “Trump invokes Struggle Powers in opposition to Venezuela by… January 31.” The US navy captured Maduro and his spouse on January 3.
Van Dyke allegedly guess a complete of $33,034 and remodeled ten occasions that quantity from his winnings. He withdrew his cash from Polymarket on the day Maduro was captured after which despatched it to a overseas crypto vault earlier than depositing it to a brand new on-line brokerage account.
Shortly after Maduro’s seize, reviews got here out about how an nameless gambler made virtually half 1,000,000 {dollars} earlier than it was introduced, elevating considerations that somebody had profited off insider navy information. The Justice Division says Van Dyke tried to cowl his tracks. After reviews in regards to the potential insider bets have been revealed, he allegedly requested Polymarket to delete his account, falsely claiming that he misplaced entry to the e-mail he used. He additionally modified the e-mail handle linked to his crypto account to a different one not related along with his title.
Van Dyke has been charged with three counts of violation in opposition to the Commodity Trade Act, with each carrying a max sentence of 10 years in jail. He has additionally been charged with one depend of wire fraud with a max penalty of 20 years in jail, in addition to one depend of illegal financial transaction with a max sentence of 10 years.
Prediction marketplaces have been battling insider buying and selling issues, and that is removed from the primary incident. Lately, Kalshi took motion in opposition to three political candidates, accusing them of insider buying and selling associated to their campaigns. Matt Klein of Minnesota and Ezekiel Enriquez of Texas face a wonderful of lower than $1,000 and suspensions of as much as 5 years. In the meantime Mark Moran of Virginia faces disciplinary motion, a 5 yr suspension and a wonderful of greater than $6,000.
