Gannon Van Dyke’s lawyer says he intends to contest the charges. The U.S. Army soldier is accused of using classified information to obtain $400,000 in polymarkets.
Army special forces member charged in Maduro attack gambling case
An Army special forces sergeant is charged with betting on a secret raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
A U.S. Special Forces soldier who took part in the raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on April 28 to insider trading charges for gambling on a covert operation, according to federal court documents.
A man who participated in the raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and is now accused of betting on the operation pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges on Tuesday, a court filing said.
Sergeant Major Gannon Van Dyke, stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has been indicted on multiple charges in connection with a series of bets he placed on raids that netted the longtime U.S. Army soldier about $400,000, the Justice Department announced on April 23. The 38-year-old entered a not guilty plea on April 28 in the Southern District of New York, according to federal court filings.
Van Dyke’s lawyers indicated Tuesday that they plan to contest the merits of the indictment.
“Mr. Van Dyke is an American hero who, unfortunately, was charged with a crime that was not a crime,” Van Dyke’s attorney, Mark Geragos, told reporters after the hearing.
Van Dyke’s lawyers say the special forces member is on leave from the military.
Federal prosecutors accused Mr. Van Dyke of making more than a dozen bets on the operation using top secret information gleaned from the attack plan on Polymarket, a prediction market where people can bet on everything from the Super Bowl to territorial gains in the war in Ukraine.
This case is the first time the Justice Department has brought insider trading charges related to prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed a civil complaint against Van Dyke on suspicion of insider trading.
According to the Justice Department, Polymarket cooperated with the investigation. CEO Shane Coplan said the company had “referred” the matter to the department. USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Prosecutors said Van Dyke’s bets included bets on “U.S. troops being in Venezuela” by a certain date, the likelihood that President Maduro would be removed from office by a certain date, and bets on “whether the United States will invade Venezuela” by January 31st.
According to the federal indictment, the charges against Van Dyke include unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, and multiple types of fraud.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.
Raid to capture Maduro
Maduro, Venezuela’s longtime leader who has long been at war with the United States, was arrested by U.S. forces in the early hours of January 3 and taken to New York City to face criminal charges related to drug trafficking.
According to court filings, Mr. Van Dyke began being involved in the operation on December 8, 2025 and continued to be involved until approximately January 5, 2026. Van Dyke signed a nondisclosure agreement related to the attack when he participated in the mission, according to court filings.
It is unclear what exact role Van Dijk played in the mission, but court filings say he was “involved in the planning and execution” of the attack that killed dozens of security forces tasked with protecting Maduro.
The Brown University War Costs Project estimated the cost of the mission to be approximately $206 million.
According to the federal indictment, Van Dyke has served in the military since 2008.
charged with insider trading
This case is the first time the Justice Department has brought insider trading charges related to prediction markets.
In announcing the indictment, FBI Director Kash Patel indicated he was prepared to go after others who gambled with insider information.
“Permit holders who seek to cash in access or knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable,” Patel said.
Winning bets made in connection with Maduro’s capture drew attention at the time and speculation of insider trading, but other bets on unforeseen events have since been made.
In it, a polymarket user named “Magamiman” won about $553,000 after placing a series of bets on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei being overthrown, hours before he was killed in a US and Israeli airstrike on Saturday, February 28th.
Polimarket CEO Koplan said the company reported bets related to Mr. Maduro’s arrest to the Justice Department and indicated it had done so in other cases.
“We were alerted to this, referred to it, and cooperated throughout the process. Despite what many are led to believe, things like this happen behind the scenes all the time,” Koplan said in a statement regarding X.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on whether there were any other cases of prediction market betting under investigation.
Contributed by: Reuters
