US special forces soldier arrested after allegedly winning $400,000 on Maduro raid
via GhanaWeb4 min read
A US special forces soldier, Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, has been arrested and charged for allegedly betting on the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, reportedly earning $400,000 in profits. Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, allegedly opened an account on Polymarket in late December and wagered approximately $32,000 that Maduro would be "out" by January. He is accused of making 13 bets between December 27 and January 2, hours before Maduro's overnight capture. Prosecutors claim Van Dyke transferred his profits to a foreign cryptocurrency vault before depositing them into an online brokerage account. He faces five criminal charges and is scheduled to appear in court in North Carolina. Jay Clayton, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that those entrusted with national secrets have a duty to protect them and armed service members, not to use information for personal financial gain. Federal prosecutors were reportedly investigating the trade, and the chiefs of the securities and commodity fraud unit met with Polymarket representatives last month. Following the bets, the US military conducted a covert operation to extradite Maduro from Caracas, transporting him to New York to face federal drug-trafficking charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
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