U.S. Army master sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke pleaded not guilty to fraud charges tied to bets on Nicolás Maduro’s removal.
NEW YORK — A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier accused of using classified information to profit from online bets tied to Nicolás Maduro’s removal pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal court.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was arraigned in New York after prosecutors alleged he traded on Polymarket, a crypto-powered prediction market, before information about Maduro’s January capture was public. The government says the bets generated more than $400,000.
A federal judge released Van Dyke on a $250,000 bond, ordered him to surrender his passport and restricted his travel. He will remain under court supervision in North Carolina and may travel only to parts of North Carolina, New York and California, the judge said.
Van Dyke entered the plea when asked by the judge, saying: “Not guilty, your honour.” His defense team includes attorney Mark Geragos, who told reporters the government had accused Van Dyke of “something that is not a crime” and said he planned to challenge the indictment and the court’s jurisdiction.
Van Dyke has been charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction. A separate civil case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also accuses him of insider trading.
Federal charging papers describe Van Dyke as an active-duty soldier since 2008 and a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant since 2023. Prosecutors say he was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, had signed nondisclosure agreements covering classified operations and was involved in the planning and execution of the Maduro operation.
The indictment says Van Dyke bought about $33,934 in bets between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2 on questions tied to Venezuela, including when U.S. forces would enter the country and when Maduro would be removed. The allegations describe the money at several stages: prosecutors say he won more than $400,000, while Justice Department allegations cited about $409,881 in withdrawn winnings and about $444,209 after funds and interest were later moved to a brokerage account.
Polymarket flagged the activity as suspicious and notified the government, according to the platform’s CEO, Shayne Coplan. The case is the Justice Department’s first insider-trading case involving a prediction market, and it comes as the platforms face closer scrutiny over the risk that people with non-public information could profit from wagers on real-world events.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in the Southern District of New York called the alleged conduct “clear insider trading” after Van Dyke’s arrest, saying prediction markets are not a refuge for using confidential or classified information for personal gain.
The case will continue in New York, where Van Dyke’s lawyers have signaled they will seek to attack the indictment. The next major test will be whether those motions narrow the case before it moves toward trial.
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