A U.S. Army master sergeant who federal prosecutors say profited by betting on the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been released on a $250,000 bond, the Justice Department said on Friday.
Gannon Van Dyke, 38, was indicted on Thursday in Manhattan federal court on charges that include commodities fraud, wire fraud and unlawful use of confidential information for personal gain. Prosecutors allege Van Dyke took part in planning and executing the Jan. 3 capture of Maduro from his Caracas residence and then wagered in a prediction market on the outcome.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Meyers in Raleigh, North Carolina ordered Van Dyke released on bond on Friday and imposed several conditions. The judge required him to surrender his passport and to relinquish firearms unless his military command specifically authorizes possession for duty. Van Dyke did not enter a plea at the hearing.
Under the indictment, prosecutors say Van Dyke placed more than $33,000 in wagers on Polymarket between Dec. 27, 2025 and Jan. 2, 2026, predicting that Maduro would soon be removed from office and that U.S. forces would enter Venezuela. The markets, which assigned low probabilities to those events at the time, yielded payouts that prosecutors say amounted to more than $400,000. According to the filing, Van Dyke withdrew the funds from Polymarket after Maduro was taken into custody.
The indictment also alleges that Van Dyke later asked the prediction market to delete his account, an action prosecutors characterize as an attempt to conceal his identity.
Polymarket said it referred the matter to the Justice Department and cooperated with investigators. Shayne Coplan, Polymarket's founder and chief executive, posted on X that the company works proactively with authorities on any suspicious activity on its marketplace.
Van Dyke, a master sergeant with U.S. Army Special Forces, has served on active duty since 2008 and is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the filing states. Prosecutors say he was involved in the "planning and execution" of the Maduro capture but did not provide additional details about the nature of his role.
The indictment cites a photograph Van Dyke uploaded to his Google account in the early morning hours of Jan. 3, hours after prosecutors say U.S. forces brought Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship. Prosecutors describe the image as depicting Van Dyke on what appears to be the deck of a ship at sea at sunrise, wearing U.S. military fatigues and carrying a rifle, standing alongside three others in U.S. military fatigues.
Van Dyke is scheduled to appear on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan, who will oversee the case going forward. Reuters was not immediately able to identify his defense lawyer.
This matter marks the Justice Department's first filing of insider trading charges connected to activity in a prediction market, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege the combination of purported access to confidential operational information and targeted wagers on Polymarket produced the alleged illicit gains.
The case remains in its early stages. Court filings assert the sequence of events and present evidence, including the referenced photograph and Polymarket transaction records, but the indictment does not expand on operational details beyond the claims listed. Defense counsel had not been identified publicly as of Friday.