Overview
- Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who announced charges Thursday, say Sergeant Major Gannon Ken Van Dyke won about $400,000 after betting on Polymarket, a site where people buy shares in outcomes of real‑world events, that Nicolás Maduro would be removed.
- Investigators say he helped plan and carry out Operation Absolute Resolve and placed about 13 wagers totaling roughly $32,000 between December 27 and January 2, with a final bet hours before the January 3 raid.
- After the raid, he allegedly withdrew most winnings, sent funds to an overseas cryptocurrency vault, moved money into a new online brokerage account, and asked Polymarket to delete his profile.
- The indictment lists illegal use and theft of government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and an unlawful monetary transaction, and the CFTC filed a parallel civil case in what news reports call the DOJ’s first insider‑trading action tied to prediction markets.
- Polymarket says it flagged the suspicious account and cooperated with authorities, and President Donald Trump compared the episode to betting scandals and said he would review federal employees’ use of such platforms.