Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. Army special forces soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to charges that he used classified information about the January 3 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to earn more than $404,000 on prediction market platform Polymarket.
Van Dyke, 38, faces five counts, including unlawful use of confidential government information, commodities fraud, and wire fraud. Prosecutors allege he was directly involved in planning and executing the operation that extracted Maduro from his Caracas presidential palace.
The criminal complaint states Van Dyke placed $33,934 across 13 trades over three days, betting Maduro would be out of power by January 31. His winnings totaled nearly $410,000. Prosecutors allege he moved the funds to a foreign cryptocurrency account, then into a newly created brokerage account. After news reports flagged the trades, he asked Polymarket to delete his account, the indictment states.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett released him on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond. His next court date is June 8.
“Mr. Van Dyke is an American hero,” defense attorney Mark Geragos said after the arraignment. Geragos added that his client was charged “with something that is not a crime.”
Attorney Zach Intrater told the court Van Dyke is on military leave. “The ultimate status is unsettled at this moment,” Intrater said.
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan confirmed the platform flagged the suspicious trades and reported them to federal authorities.
Grateful the DOJ officially acknowledged Polymarket’s cooperation on this case.
Noise aside, the reality is we work proactively with all relevant authorities on any suspicious activity on our marketplace. We flagged this, referred it, and cooperated throughout the process. This…
— Shayne Coplan 🦅 (@shayne_coplan) April 24, 2026
The case is the first federal prosecution tied to prediction market bets, arriving as Donald Trump Jr. advises both Polymarket and rival Kalshi while holding a financial stake in Polymarket. Trump’s Truth Social is also developing its own prediction market.
President Donald Trump, asked about the case after Van Dyke’s arrest, said he is “not happy” with geopolitical betting.
