A U.S. Army master sergeant has been arrested and federally charged after prosecutors say he placed bets on a prediction market using information from a classified operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York names Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke. Federal officials say he placed more than $33,000 in wagers on Polymarket within hours of President Trump’s Jan. 3 Truth Social post announcing Maduro’s capture. Those bets allegedly paid out more than $409,000.
Prosecutors accuse Van Dyke of using confidential government information for personal gain and charged him with unlawful use of confidential government information, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and engaging in monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity.
According to the indictment, the Polymarket account placed a $32,537 bet that Maduro would be “out by January 31, 2026.” The same account made additional wagers: $1,000 that the U.S. would invade Venezuela by that date, $250 that President Trump would invoke the War Powers Act against Venezuela by then, and $146 that U.S. forces would land in Venezuela by month’s end. Prosecutors say Van Dyke withdrew most of the proceeds on Jan. 3 and later sought to conceal his identity, including asking Polymarket to delete the account.
Officials tell CBS News Van Dyke was a communications specialist supporting Joint Special Operations Command, which oversees Tier 1 units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team Six. He has been on active duty since 2008, became a master sergeant in 2023, and was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at the time of the alleged offense. The Justice Department said he was involved in planning and executing the operation to capture Maduro.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton called the alleged conduct “clear insider trading” and said prediction markets are not a refuge for misappropriated confidential or classified information used for personal profit.
Polymarket said it identified a user trading on classified government information, referred the matter to the Department of Justice and cooperated with investigators. The company said the arrest showed the platform’s monitoring worked and reiterated that insider trading has no place on its market. Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan has spoken publicly about the need for platforms to draw ethical lines and manage the risk of users trading on inside information.
President Trump, speaking at an unrelated event, said he had not heard about the alleged betting but would look into it, likening the situation to the case of baseball figure Pete Rose betting on his own team and criticizing the broader spread of betting activity.
The case is the first U.S. arrest tied to prediction-market wagering on classified operations. Prosecutors earlier charged two Israeli soldiers in a similar matter involving alleged use of classified information to place Polymarket bets.
The indictment, the company referral and law enforcement statements are part of an ongoing federal investigation into the alleged misuse of nonpublic government information for betting on political and military events.