MANHATTAN (CN) - Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a master sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Forces with using classified information to wager on the removal of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, profiting more than $400,000. 

According to a five-count federal indictment in the Southern District of New York, Gannon Ken Van Dyke placed a series of bets on the online prediction market Polymarket relating to Maduro's Jan. 3, 2026, capture by U.S. forces - an operation in which Van Dyke was explicitly involved.

"From at least on or about Dec. 8, 2025, through at least on or about Jan. 5, 2026, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, the defendant, was involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve, and had access to sensitive, non-public, classified information about that operation," the government says in the indictment. 

But prosecutors say that didn't stop him from buying nearly $34,000 worth of shares on various Polymarket contracts relating to Maduro and Venezuela in the days leading up to the mission. 

Van Dyke split up his bets across numerous transactions, according to the government. He is accused of wagering on several different Polymarket contracts, including ones posing whether the U.S. would "invade Venezuela" by Jan. 31 and another titled "Maduro out" by the same date. 

"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 Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Thursday. "Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply."

Van Dyke's precise role in Maduro's capture is not explicitly clear. But according to prosecutors, Van Dyke was photographed on the morning of the mission "on what appears to be the deck of a ship at sea, at sunrise wearing U.S. military fatigues, and carrying a rifle, standing alongside three other individuals wearing U.S. military fatigues." 

Hours later, prosecutors say Van Dyke officially won his wagers and profited approximately $409,881.

In the days that followed, Van Dyke supposedly tried to cover his tracks. He withdrew the funds from his Polymarket account the day of Maduro's capture, prosecutors say, fed them through a foreign cryptocurrency "vault," then to his own cryptocurrency exchange account, then finally to a newly created brokerage account. That brokerage account had a balance of approximately $415,511 as recently as this week, according to the government. 

Prosecutors say Van Dyke's precautions may have been provoked by widespread reports of unusual Polymarket activity in the wake of Maduro's capture. He asked Polymarket to delete his account after he cashed out, falsely claiming that he had lost access to the email address he used to open it, the government claims.

He also used a VPN to place a bet in the first place, according to prosecutors. 

"Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly betrayed his fellow soldiers by utilizing classified information for his own financial gain," FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr, said in a statement. "Van Dyke profited more than $400,000 by trading various outcomes related to Venezuela after learning of the operation because of his role as a U.S. Army soldier. The FBI will continue to investigate threats to our nation's security especially from those entrusted to safeguard sensitive classified information and military operations." 

Van Dyke faces three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. He is also charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of unlawful monetary transaction, which carry maximum sentences of 20 years and 10 years, respectively. 

It is currently unclear who will be representing Van Dyke in his defense. His case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett, a Joe Biden appointee who is also presiding over the high-profile murder case of Luigi Mangione. Maduro remains in a federal prison in Brooklyn alongside his wife, Cilia Adela Flores De Maduro. Their controversial international capture by the Trump administration came after their indictment on narco-terrorism charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

Source: Courthouse News Service