U.S. soldier arrested for Polymarket bets on Maduro capture
Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are seen in handcuffs after landing on a helipad in Manhattan; They board an armored vehicle, accompanied by heavily armed Federal agents, en route to the Federal courthouse in Manhattan in New York City on January 5, 2026.
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A master sergeant from the US Army Special Forces was arrested federal indictment He accused her of using classified information to place bets on the American military mission capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro that earned him $400,000 on the Polymarket prediction market. Ministry of Justice he said on Thursday.
Sergeant, Gannon Ken Van DykeThe Justice Department said it “participated in the planning and execution” of the operation to capture Maduro in early January.
The arrest comes as Polymarket and Kalshi grow in popularity and concerns grow about insiders placing bets on these prediction market platforms.
Van Dyke, 38, served at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where US military special forces took part in the capture of Maduro and his wife.
He is expected to be presented to a magistrate judge in federal court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on Thursday evening.
Van Dyke is accused of violating the Commodity Exchange Act; one count of wire fraud; and one count of unlawful monetary transaction. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted of the top criminal count, wire fraud, and up to 10 years in prison on each of the other counts.
Commodity Futures Trading CommissionRegulating prediction markets, Separate charges filed against Van Dyke in civil lawsuit Allegedly using classified, non-public information to make bets related to the mission to capture Maduro.
Both criminal and civil lawsuits against Van Dyke were filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan in New York City.
This is the courthouse where Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons charges, and his wife, Cilia Flores, is charged with cocaine conspiracy and weapons counts.
“You know, unfortunately the whole world has become kind of a casino,” President Donald Trump said when asked about Van Dyke’s arrest and other cases of suspected insider trading in prediction markets. he said.
“And when you look at what’s going on around the world, in Europe and everywhere, they’re running these betting games,” Trump said. “I was never very keen on that. I didn’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is… I’m not happy with any of it.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.“He is both an investor and unpaid advisor to Polymarket and a paid advisor to Kalshi, the two largest prediction markets,” The New York Times said in a January report.
“Our men and women in uniform are trusted with confidential information to perform their duties as safely and effectively as possible, and they are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement regarding Van Dyke’s arrest.
“Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information are fully valid,” Blanche said.
CNBC requested comment from Polymarket on the case.
