April 24, 2026 – 08:15
A U.S. soldier has been indicted on fraud and other charges on suspicion that he made more than $400,000 by betting online on the downfall of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro using classified information, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Gannon Ken Van Dykea 38-year-old soldier, is accused of using confidential information about the United States intervention in Venezuela in the Polymarket prediction sitethe Department said in a statement.
The US military launched attacks on Caracas On January 3, he arrested Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and took them to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Located on the Fort Bragg military base, in the state of North Carolina, Van Dyke “participated in the planning and execution” of the operation to capture Maduroaccording to the justice portfolio.
According to the accusation, the soldier faces a charge of electronic fraudanother for illicit monetary transaction and three more for violating the Commodity Exchange Law.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence 50 years in prison.
“He had access to sensitive, confidential and classified information about the operation,” indicated the administration of donald trump.
This was Private Van Dyke’s operation
Since the beginning of December, the soldier allegedly placed some $33,000 in 13 bets related to the US intervention in Caracas.
“In total it is believed that he had earnings of approximately $409,881”, noted the Department.
Our “uniforms receive classified information in order to fulfill their mission (…) and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain,” declared the acting attorney general. Todd Blanche.
Bets on the US attack on Iran
At the beginning of the year, six accounts on Polymarket earned $1.2 million after bet that the United States would attack Iran on February 28, the day the war in the Middle East began.
There are no arrests related to those bets and, so far, no evidence linking President Trumpor to White House officials with such transactions
“Unfortunately, the entire world has become a kind of casino (…) in Europe and everywhere they are doing these betting stuff“Trump told reporters on Thursday, adding: “I was never very in favor of that.”
Since the beginning of his second term, Democratic congressmen have accused Trump and his family of having conflicts of interest.
“The trump family “He has earned $4 billion thanks to the presidency,” the senator wrote on Thursday. Bernie Sanders in a post on X.
