Betting on Maduro's Capture: U.S. Soldier Earns $410,000 from $33,000 Using Classified Information

A U.S. Army Special Forces member has been indicted for profiting illegally on a prediction market by using classified information about a military operation he was involved in.

On April 25, Yonhap News, citing the U.S. Department of Justice, reported that on April 23 (local time), U.S. Army Special Forces Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was indicted by a grand jury at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Sergeant Van Dyke participated in both the planning and execution phases of Operation Steadfast Resolve, which involved capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and extraditing him to the United States on January 3. Despite signing a non-disclosure agreement pledging to maintain operational security, he placed bets related to the operation on the prediction market platform Polymarket. Van Dyke is accused of using sensitive classified information to place approximately $33,000 (49 million won) in bets and earning about $410,000 (610 million won) in profits.

The White House's X Emergency Response account shared a video on January 4th titled "Perp Walk," showing Venezuelan President Maduro being escorted down a hallway inside the DEA New York field office. Photo by Yonhap News

원본보기 아이콘

Van Dyke reportedly transferred most of the money he earned to an account registered with a pseudonymous email at a cryptocurrency exchange and, on January 6, attempted to destroy evidence by requesting Polymarket to delete his account, claiming he had lost access to the email.

According to federal prosecutors, he had been involved in the planning and execution of the operation since December 8 of last year. He created a Polymarket account on December 26, and starting the next day, placed 13 bets on events such as "the U.S. military will enter Venezuela" and "Maduro will be ousted by January 31, 2026," profiting from these predictions. His actions came to light after Polymarket reported him. The charges against him include illegal use of government classified information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and illegal financial transactions.

Regarding Van Dyke's actions, Polymarket stated, "Insider trading cannot be tolerated on our platform," adding, "We actively cooperated with the investigation by identifying traders using classified information and notifying the Department of Justice."

According to the Associated Press, Van Dyke has served as an active-duty soldier since 2008 and was promoted to sergeant in 2023. He was most recently assigned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Some media outlets have reported that this is the first time the U.S. Department of Justice has applied insider trading charges to activity on a prediction market.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.