US soldier pleads not guilty to charges of gambling on Maduro ouster

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Army soldier charged with winning $400,000 by using confidential information to bet on the removal of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to fraud charges on Tuesday.

Last week, Gannon Van Dyke, 38, was arrested on a federal indictment charging him with placing $33,000 in bets on prediction market Polymarket between December 27, 2025, and January 2, 2026, that Maduro would soon be out of office and that U.S. forces would soon enter Venezuela.

Markets at the time assigned low probabilities to those events, leading to a big payout for Van Dyke, prosecutors said.

The case marks the first time the Justice Department has filed insider trading charges involving a prediction market. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed civil charges against Van Dyke.

Van Dyke, a master sergeant with U.S. Army Special Forces who had been stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, was involved in the “planning and execution” of the January 3, 2026, raid that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, prosecutors said.

He is currently on leave from the armed forces, another one of Van Dyke’s lawyers, Zach Intrater, said in court.

“The ultimate status is a bit unsettled at this moment,” Intrater said. “As of right now he is still associated with the military.”

Garnett released Van Dyke on $250,000 bond and restricted his travel to parts of North Carolina, New York, and California, where he has family.

He faces five criminal counts: 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.

Polymarket said it flagged Van Dyke’s trading to the authorities and cooperated with the investigation.

Rival prediction market Kalshi had previously blocked Van Dyke from opening an account due to the platform’s ID requirements, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Garnett set Van Dyke’s next court date for June 8.