Maduro Operation Bet: US Soldier Allegedly Pockets Rp 6 Billion

A member of the US Army Special Forces has been charged with using classified information to earn more than US$400,000 (around six billion Rupiah) through bets on an online prediction market related to a military operation in January against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This was stated by the US Department of Justice on Thursday (23/04). The accused, Gannon Ken Van Dyke (38), from Fayetteville, North Carolina, is alleged to have used sensitive details of the mission to place about 13 bets on Polymarket, an online prediction market platform. The bets predicted that US forces would enter Caracas and overthrow Maduro. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that Van Dyke was “involved in the planning and execution” of the military operation and “abused access to classified information for personal gain.” Prosecutors added that Van Dyke later transferred most of his betting proceeds to overseas cryptocurrency accounts before channelling the funds to a new brokerage account. US authorities have charged the Special Forces soldier with misusing classified government information for personal gain through online betting. The charges were read in a federal court in Manhattan and include violations of illegal use of classified information and wire fraud. If found guilty on all charges, Van Dyke faces a potential sentence of up to 50 years in prison. Additionally, Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasised that military personnel hold a great trust from the nation. “Our soldiers are entrusted with classified information to carry out missions safely and effectively, and they are strictly prohibited from exploiting sensitive information for personal financial gain,” Blanche said in an official statement. Meanwhile, Polymarket has also spoken out. In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the company affirmed that insider trading practices have no place on Polymarket and stated that it has cooperated with the US authorities’ investigation. In addition to the Van Dyke case, several other incidents have emerged related to betting on prediction markets directly connected to US government policies and actions. Earlier this year, six Polymarket accounts reportedly earned around US$1.2 million by betting that the US would launch an attack on Iran on 28 February, coinciding with the outbreak of war. To date, no one has been arrested in that case. In March, traders who had placed bets beforehand gained millions of dollars, according to AFP calculations, after former President Donald Trump announced talks he described as “very productive” with Iran. That statement triggered a drop in oil prices and a strengthening of the stock market. Meanwhile, new Polymarket accounts also reportedly generated hundreds of thousands of dollars from accurate bets on the US-Iran ceasefire on 7 April, as reported by the Associated Press. Amid this phenomenon, the White House has issued a warning to staff not to use non-public information for transactions on prediction markets.