A U.S. Army soldier who participated in the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has been charged with using classified information to bet on the mission on Polymarket, a prediction marketplace, federal authorities said on Thursday evening.
The soldier, Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, made more than $400,000 by betting on different outcomes related to Venezuela after learning of the operation, federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. said.
Sergeant Van Dyke then sought to conceal his unlawful use of classified government information by attempting to obscure the source of his unlawful proceeds and to disguise his connection to the accounts linked to the illicit trades related to the capture, according to an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court.
Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Sergeant Van Dyke used classified information to “place bets on the timing and outcome of that very operation, all to turn a profit.”
“Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain,” Mr. Clayton said.
The increasing number of companies that run prediction markets have come under increased scrutiny in recent months as concerns about people with access to privileged information taking advantage of their insider knowledge have grown. Last month, legislation was filed in the Senate and House to limit government officials’ use of one popular site, Kalshi, and states are also considering stronger regulations.
It has been suspected that insiders have been using the prediction markets to profit on their bets about world events, raising concerns about risks to military planning. The White House issued a warning to staff last month against insider trading, amid a surge of suspicious trading on prediction markets, oil futures and stocks hinging on crucial moments in the conflict.
Asked about concerns that federal employees may be engaging in insider trading on the war in Iran, through prediction markets, for example, President Trump said on Thursday that “the whole world unfortunately has become somewhat of a casino.”
He added, “I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually. It is what it is. I’m not happy with any of that stuff.”
In the hours before American troops captured Mr. Maduro on Jan. 3, it was reported that a Polymarket user placed a $32,000 bet that Mr. Maduro would be out of power by the end of January, and profited by more than $400,000. It was unclear on Thursday if the charges in the indictment related to that bet.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
