Feds charge U.S. Army soldier who made $400,000 from Polymarket bets tied to Maduro capture

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, helped plan and execute Operation Absolute Resolve, a daring mission that saw the U.S. Army capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. His superiors, however, were unaware that Van Dyke had more riding on the mission than just the abduction: He had also secretly placed 13 wagers on the prediction markets site Polymarket that the U.S. would invade or that Maduro would be captured prior to January 31.

Van Dyke’s wagers won him $409,881, according to the U.S. Justice Department, but now the soldier’s wagers have earned him something else: a series of criminal charges related to insider trading that come with the prospect of decades in prison.

“Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly betrayed his fellow soldiers by utilizing classified information for his own financial gain,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr., in a statement announcing the charges, which cited unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

According to the Justice Department, Van Dyke used classified information he a...