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A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was arrested on Thursday after allegedly betting on Maduro’s removal from office before news of the raid was made public, a law enforcement source told CBS News.
Federal investigators believe U.S. Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke made bets of more than $33,000 on the prediction market Polymarket within hours of President Trump’s announcement in January that Maduro had been captured, the source said. The bets hit and resulted in winnings of more than $409,000.
According to an indictment unsealed Thursday in the Southern District of New York, Van Dyke was charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in monetary transactions from unlawful activity.
In a press release, the Justice Department said that Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of the operation to capture Maduro.
“Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain,” U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said. “The defendant allegedly violated the trust placed in him by the United States Government by using classified information about a sensitive military operation to place bets on the timing and outcome of that very operation, all to turn a profit. That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law.”
In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, Mr. Trump announced in a Truth Social post that the Venezuelan president and his wife had been “captured and flown out of the Country.”
Shortly before Mr. Trump’s post, a Polymarket account holder placed a $32,537 bet on the likelihood that Maduro would be “out by January 31, 2026.”
Three additional bets were made via the same Polymarket account: a $1,000 wager on the U.S. invading Venezuela by Jan. 31; a $250 wager that Mr. Trump would invoke the War Powers Act against Venezuela by Jan. 31; and a $146 wager that U.S. forces would land in Venezuela by the end of the month.
During an unrelated Oval Office event Thursday, Mr. Trump told reporters he hadn’t heard about the alleged betting on Maduro’s removal but would look into it.
“That’s like Pete Rose betting on his own people,” the president said, referring to the MLB legend who was banned from the sport for gambling. Mr. Trump has defended Rose, saying last year he would issue a posthumous pardon.
Asked about concerns that prediction markets could play host to insider trading, Mr. Trump said he’s “not happy with any of that stuff.”
“The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino, and you look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe and every place, they’re doing these betting things,” he said. “I was never much in favor of it. I like it conceptually, but it is what it is.”
While the arrest is a first for U.S. authorities, two Israeli soldiers were charged in connection with the suspected use of classified information to place bets on the prediction platform Polymarket back in February.
