A U.S. Army soldier has been charged with using inside information to win $400,000 in an online betting market on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture, federal officials announced Thursday.
Gannon Ken Van Dyk took part in the planning and execution of the operation to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to make money on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor’s office in New York said.
Van Dyk was a senior enlisted soldier who was part of the special forces community and stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to the indictment, but it offers little other details about his military service.
However, the document says that Van Dyke was photographed following the raid on the deck of a ship “wearing U.S. military fatigues, and carrying a rifle, standing alongside three other individuals wearing U.S. military fatigues.
Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of capturing Maduro for about a month beginning Dec. 8 2025, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. He signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge “any classified or sensitive information” related to the operations, the office said.
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He has been charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction.
“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,” Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the announcement makes it clear that no one is above the law.
“Any clearance holders thinking of cashing in their access and knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable,” he said in a statement.
The Pentagon referred questions on the case to the Army and the Department of Justice. US Special Operations Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Van Dyke joined the Army in 2008 and, in 2023, was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant, the second-highest enlisted rank in the Army, according to the indictment.
—With files from Reuters
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