Justice Department arrests soldier who earned over $400,000 by betting online on the downfall of the Venezuelan president
The U.S. Department of Justice has arrested and indicted an Army soldier who won a large sum of money betting on the situation in Venezuela and its former president, Nicolás Maduro. The soldier is reportedly involved in the U.S. operation to detain President Maduro.
Southern District of New York | US Soldier Charged With Using Classified Information To Profit From Prediction Market Bets | United States Department of Justice
The United States indicted President Maduro on charges including drug trafficking, and on January 3, 2026, attacked Venezuela, detaining President Maduro and extraditing him to the United States.
The US launched a large-scale attack on Venezuela, detaining President Maduro and his wife and extraditing them abroad - GIGAZINE
Approximately two months before this operation, the prediction market Polymarket had started taking bets on events concerning Venezuela and President Maduro. The betting topics included several possibilities, such as 'Will the US military enter Venezuela by a specific date?', 'Will President Maduro step down from power by a specific date?', 'Will the US invade Venezuela by January 31, 2026?', and 'Will President Donald Trump invoke his power of war against Venezuela by a specific date?'.
According to the indictment, U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke is suspected of making approximately 13 bets on this subject, earning a profit of $409,881 (approximately 65.5 million yen). Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of the operation to capture President Maduro, and is alleged to have used information obtained through his duties to make the bets.
This bet was covered in news outlets around the world because a newly created account won a huge prize.
An account on Polymarket made over 60 million yen in profits just before the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro - GIGAZINE
After the betting transactions were completed, Van Dyke allegedly transferred most of the profits to a foreign cryptocurrency wallet and then deposited them into a newly created online brokerage account. Van Dyke also took actions to conceal his involvement in the transactions, such as attempting to delete his Polymarket account by falsely claiming he had lost access to his email address and changing the email address registered to his cryptocurrency wallet to a different address under someone else's name.
The case was investigated by the FBI, and Van Dyke was indicted on three counts of violating the Commodities and Trade Act (up to 10 years), one count of wire fraud (up to 20 years), and one count of illegal financial dealing (up to 10 years).
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated, 'The defendants allegedly betrayed the trust placed in them by the government by using highly classified information about military operations to bet on the timing and outcome of those operations and profit from it. This is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law.'
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