Special Forces soldier won $400K in bets on Maduro raid, feds say

Federal authorities have arrested and charged an Army Special Forces soldier with using classified information to place bets on the Jan. 3 raid that whisked Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of a secure compound and into U.S. custody.

Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke placed bets that totaled about $33,000 on the timing of U.S. operations in Venezuela, according to an indictment unsealed Friday. He allegedly netted more than $409,000 in winnings through Polymarket.

The indictment said Van Dyke was also aboard one of the Navy vessels that had taken part in the Venezuela mission. Just hours after Maduro was captured on Jan. 3 and brought aboard the USS Iwo Jima, Van Dyke uploaded a photo to his Google account depicting him on the deck of a ship at sea, at sunrise, wearing military fatigues and carrying a rifle, according to authorities.

Attorneys for Van Dyke, who also participated in the planning and execution of the mission, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Van Dyke began making the bets not long after he signed a nondisclosure agreement for “Western Hemisphere Operations” on Dec. 8, 2025, the indictment said. He created a Polymarket account on Dec. 26 using a VPN and connected to the betting website through an exit node, which made it look like he was in a foreign country.

From Dec. 27 through Jan. 2, he purchased bets on Maduro- and Venezuela-related markets. In one trade, he purchased more than 600 shares of the market bet that U.S. forces would be in Venezuela by the end of January.

The rise of prediction markets and bets on them have intersected with U.S. military action, with several contracts on prediction markets for conflicts such as the ongoing war with Iran.

This is a developing story. Check back for more.

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