US soldier to stand trial in $400K Maduro prediction market case
A federal judge on Monday tentatively scheduled the trial of U.S. Army Special Forces soldier Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke for December 7, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu.
Van Dyke is accused of using classified information about a military operation involving the capture of then–Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to earn more than $400,000 on the prediction market Polymarket.
According to prosecutors, Van Dyke pleaded not guilty in April to charges that he placed 13 bets using inside information connected to the Maduro operation and later attempted to destroy evidence after profiting from the trades.
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The case is expected to become the first U.S. prosecution involving alleged insider trading on a prediction market to go to trial.
Prosecutors, as reported by ABC News, said they had “substantially completed” evidence disclosure and expect their presentation to last about one week. Defense attorneys said their case would take only a “couple of days” and plan to seek dismissal of the indictment by July 31.
Defense lawyer Mark Geragos argued that classified information at the center of the case would complicate prosecution, saying the government would need to establish details such as “who was in the Situation Room at that time and who made the decision” to capture Maduro.
Van Dyke did not speak during Monday’s hearing and remains free on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond. He is currently on leave from the Army, according to his attorney Zach Intrater.
After the hearing, Geragos called the prosecution an “exercise in futility.”
“There’s only one person who could have ordered the operation — that one person is the president,” he said. “They are never, ever going to get the president to divulge when and how and what, so this is just an exercise in futility.”
The case comes amid growing scrutiny of prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi. Last month, New York prosecutors also charged a Google employee with allegedly using confidential company information to earn more than $1.2 million on Polymarket.
By Nijat Babayev
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