The Special Forces soldier, identified as 38-year-old Gannon Ken Van Dyke, took part in the “planning and execution” of the mission to kidnap Maduro, who was captured along with his wife by US forces in Venezuela in January and brought back to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
According to the DOJ, Van Dyke allegedly placed 13 separate bets from December 27, 2025, to January 26, 2026, totaling $33,034, including a bet that Maduro would be removed from office by January 31.
According to the DOJ, Van Dyke won, giving him an alleged profit of $409,881. According to the Wall Street Journal, at least $56.6 million was wagered by others on Polymarket by the time Maduro left office. The soldier allegedly stashed his winnings in an overseas cryptocurrency vault before creating a new online brokerage account for the money.
After news of suspicious trading regarding Venezuela received press attention, the DOJ alleged that Van Dyke tried to cover his tracks:
Van Dyke then took steps to conceal his identity as a trader in markets related to Maduro and Venezuela. For example, on or about January 6, 2026, Van Dyke asked Polymarket to delete his Polymarket account, falsely claiming that he had lost access to the email address to which the account was linked. That same day, Van Dyke changed the email registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account to an email address that was not subscribed in his name, and which he created on or about December 14, 2025.
Van Dyke, stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is charged with “unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and unlawful monetary transactions,” according to a DOJ press release.
According to ABC News, Van Dyke’s arrest is believed to be the first time the US Justice Department has pursued an insider trading case in the relatively new prediction markets area. The two largest prediction market platforms, Kalshi and Polymarket, are rife with insider trading, but the companies have recently indicated they will crack down on the practice.
This week, Kalshi took action against three people running for elected office in the US, including independent candidate Mark Moran from Virginia. Moran, a former contestant on reality dating show FBoy Island, was fined $6,229 for betting on his own race, but says he did it on purpose to get caught so he could talk about how these betting sites are “dangerous to our democracy.”
The current head of the DOJ is Todd Blanche, President Trump’s former personal attorney. Blanch becomes acting Attorney General after the President fires Pam Bondi.
“Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information to accomplish their missions as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain,” Blanch said in a statement posted online.
Blanch added, “Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply.”
Kash Patel also released a statement on Thursday, claiming that, “Any clearance holder thinking of capitalizing on their access and knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable.”
Incidentally, President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is an advisor to both Polymarket and Kalashi.
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