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The United States Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against an active-duty soldier for placing a bet on the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, using classified military information for personal profit.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, prosecutors accused Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, of cashing in on the operation against Maduro, to the tune of more than $400,000.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n They say he used the prediction market platform Polymarket 13 times to bet on topics including whether US forces would \u201cinvade\u201d Venezuela and when Maduro would be removed from office. Officials framed his actions as a dire breach of public trust.<\/p>\n \u201cGannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly betrayed his fellow soldiers by utilizing classified information for his own financial gain,\u201d said James C Barnacle Jr, an assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).<\/p>\n Van Dyke has been charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud and one count of carrying out an unlawful monetary transaction.<\/p>\n Each commodities fraud and unlawful transaction charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The wire fraud charge could result in up to 20 years.<\/p>\n The availability of prediction markets \u2014 online betting platforms where users can gamble on real-world events \u2014 has expanded under the second presidency of Republican leader Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Administration officials and close advisers to Trump, including his son Donald Trump Jr, maintain ties to the prediction market industry.<\/p>\n Trump Jr, for example, was named a \u201cstrategic adviser\u201d to the prediction market Kalshi in January 2025, shortly before his father was sworn in.<\/p>\n In May 2025, less than five months into Trump\u2019s second term, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission dropped its legal fight against Kalshi, paving the way for bets to be placed on political events like elections.<\/p>\n Since then, prediction markets have proliferated in the US, with some bets raising questions about the prospect of insider trading.<\/p>\n Critics fear government officials and other politicians could use the platforms to bet on actions they themselves control.<\/p>\n The sizeable bets made ahead of the US attack on Venezuela on January 3, 2026, were among the instances that raised red flags, with media outlets reporting on the \u201cmystery trader\u201d who scored big.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n