The US Department of Justice announced Thursday that a US Army Special Forces soldier has been charged with using classified information about the January operation that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to make over $400,000 (€342,480) betting on the online prediction market Polymarket.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, allegedly used sensitive details from the mission to place around 13 wagers on Polymarket that US forces would enter Caracas and depose Maduro. According to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Van Dyke "participated in the planning and execution" of the military operation and "used his access to classified information about that operation to personally profit."

Prosecutors allege he later moved most of the proceeds into a foreign cryptocurrency account before transferring funds to a new brokerage account. Van Dyke was indicted in federal court in Manhattan on charges including unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain and wire fraud. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 50 years in prison.

"Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain," Blanche said in a statement. Polymarket stated on X that "insider trading has no place on Polymarket" and that it cooperated with investigators.

There have been other instances of bets placed on prediction markets related to the US government. The White House has warned staff against using nonpublic information to trade on prediction markets.

Source: www.dw.com