US soldier charged after allegedly making over $400,000 on Maduro raid bet

Published April 23, 2026 6:38pm ET | Updated April 23, 2026 6:46pm ET



A U.S. soldier became the first American charged with insider trading through Polymarket after using classified information to make $400,000 in profits through bets on the capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was charged by the Department of Justice with the unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction. The charges stem from his use of classified information to place a bet of $33,000 relating to the U.S. operation to capture Maduro.

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