US Soldier Pleads Not Guilty to Betting on Nicolás Maduro's Overthrow
A US Army soldier pleaded not guilty to fraud charges after allegedly winning $400,000 by using insider information to bet on prediction market Polymarket that Nicolás Maduro would be removed from power. The case is the first time the Department of Justice has filed insider trading charges involving prediction markets.
Prosecutors allege Gannon Van Dyke won $400,000 by using insider information to place bets on Polymarket about the Maduro raid.
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The US Army soldier charged with winning $400,000 by using insider information to bet on the removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to fraud on Tuesday.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, entered his plea in the courtroom of US District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan. Van Dyke, bald, wearing a black blazer, jeans and brown shoes, arrived at the courtroom with his lawyers Zach Intrater and Mark Geragos.
Van Dyke was arrested on April 23 under a federal indictment charging him with placing $33,000 in bets on the Polymarket prediction market from December 27, 2025, to January 2, 2026, that Maduro would soon leave office and that US forces would soon enter Venezuela.
The markets at the time assigned low probabilities to those events, leading to a large payout for Van Dyke, prosecutors said.
The case marks the first time the US Department of Justice has filed insider trading charges involving prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has also filed a civil proceeding against Van Dyke.
Van Dyke, a sergeant in the US Army special forces stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, participated in the "planning and execution" of the January raid that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, prosecutors said.
He faces five criminal counts: misuse of classified government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and engaging in illegal monetary transactions.
Polymarket said it reported Van Dyke's trading to authorities and cooperated with the investigation.
Rival prediction market Kalshi had previously blocked Van Dyke from opening an account due to the platform's ID requirements, Reuters reported Friday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
US District Judge Brian Meyers in Raleigh, North Carolina, ordered Van Dyke released on $250,000 bail at a preliminary hearing Friday in Raleigh. Garnett is expected to oversee Van Dyke's case going forward.
