The US Department of Justice () on Thursday announced that a soldier named Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested and charged after he allegedly bet on the removal of Venezuela’s former President before the information was made public.
According to the release, Dyke, who was involved in the military operation to capture Maduro, allegedly made more than $400,000 trading on based on classified information regarding the timing of Maduro’s arrest.
Dyke is now charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conducting an unlawful monetary transaction. According to the indictment, prosecutors say he was involved in planning and carrying out a military operation to capture Maduro, known as “Operation Absolute Resolve”, and used insider knowledge of that operation to profit. From 8 December 2025 to 6 January, he had access to sensitive, nonpublic, classified information about the operation.
“In connection with his work, Van Dyke signed nondisclosure agreements in which he promised to ‘never divulge, publish, or reveal by writing, words, conduct, or otherwise . . . any classified or sensitive information’ relating to military operations,” the DOJ noted.
Here’s all you need to know about Gannon Ken Van Dyke:
Van Dyke has been an active-duty soldier in the , stationed at Fort Bragg, a military base located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A 38-year-old resident of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Van Dyke has been charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act. According to the Justice Department, each of these counts carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Charges against Van Dyke
1. Wire fraud: The maximum sentence for committing wire fraud is a sentence of 20 years in prison.
2. Commodity fraud: The maximum sentence, according to Cornell Law School, could be up to 25 years in prison.
3. Unlawful monetary transaction: A maximum penalty is 10 years.
Apart from these, Van Dyke also has two criminal charges under his belt, which include theft of government information and unlawful use of confidential government information.
Van Dyke used secret information to make money
Based on the classified information he received, Van Dyke allegedly made bets on , a crypto-powered platform. All of his bets predicted Maduro’s fall and that the US forces would take action in Venezuela. The bets were placed before the operation was made public, and on 3 January, the US military completed it, bringing Maduro and his wife to the US. Between 27 December 2025 and 26 January, Van Dyke placed approximately 13 bets totalling approximately $33,034.
Once the news of the operation became public, all bets on Maduro and Venezuela were settled on the betting platform, and since his predictions proved correct, he made over $400,000 (about 3 crore in Indian Rupees).
How did he make $400,000?
According to the release, the DOJ noted that using his insider knowledge, Van Dyke assured his win. After he received the money, he moved most of it into a foreign cryptocurrency vault, from which he later transferred the money into a newly created brokerage account. During this time, reports of unusual betting activity on Polymarket surfaced regarding the operation, and when suspicions were raised, Van Dyke allegedly tried to conceal his actions.
Three days after the US military carried out the operation, Van Dyke asked Polymarket to delete his account, falsely claiming that he had lost access to his email to justify the deletion. Simultaneously, he changed the email address linked to his crypto account to another email address not associated with his name.
Response to Van Dyke’s removal and betting
Asked about the alleged betting during an unrelated event on Thursday, US President said he had not heard about it but would look into it. When asked about concerns that prediction markets could lead to insider trading, the president said he is “not happy with any of that stuff”.
“The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino, and you look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe and every place, they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favour of it,” Trump added.
Acting Attorney General said, “Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain.”
DOJ said Van Dyke was to be presented before US Magistrate Judge Brian S Meyers in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
