A U.S. Army special forces soldier has been charged after allegedly using classified military intelligence to make more than $400,000 in profits by betting on the removal of Nicolás Maduro before the operation became public.
Federal prosecutors say Gannon Ken Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier involved in planning a covert U.S. mission known as Operation Absolute Resolve, used insider knowledge to place a series of bets on a prediction market platform. The wagers were reportedly made in late December 2025 and early January 2026, shortly before U.S. forces carried out a raid in Caracas that resulted in Maduro’s capture.
Authorities allege Van Dyke placed multiple well-timed bets using nonpublic information about the operation’s timing and outcome, ultimately turning tens of thousands of dollars in wagers into over $400,000 in profit.
Following the operation, prosecutors say he attempted to conceal his actions by transferring funds through cryptocurrency accounts and trying to erase his digital footprint.
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged him with several offences, including wire fraud, commodities fraud, theft of government information, and unlawful use of classified intelligence for personal gain. Officials emphasized that using sensitive national security information for profit is a serious breach of trust and federal law.
The case is believed to be one of the first major prosecutions involving insider trading tied to prediction markets, raising broader concerns about the misuse of confidential government information in emerging digital betting platforms.
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