(The Center Square) – An enlisted soldier at Fort Bragg was granted $250,000 bond release on Friday and will have his charges of using classified information to win $400,000 in a prediction market continued Tuesday in New York.
Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, member of the Special Forces team helping capture Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, is charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain; theft of nonpublic government information; commodities fraud; wire fraud; and making an unlawful monetary transaction.
The 38-year-old, if convicted, stands to lose any potential retirement pay and spend years in prison.
Van Dyke appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian S. Meyers in the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh.
On social media, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote, “This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to profit off of a righteous military operation.”
Prosecutors say as part of the operation to capture Maduro, he signed a nondisclosure agreement specific to not releasing classified or sensitive information. He used what he knew to make bets on Polymarket that Maduro would be out of power by Jan. 31.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the entity overseeing Polymarket and other prediction markets, on Thursday filed a complaint against Van Dyke. The commission says he moved $35,000 from his personal bank account to cryptocurrency exchange on Dec. 26.
The commission says between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2, he bet $32,500 in a series of bets. Most were made Jan. 2. He made $404,000 on Maduro bets, and another $5,000 on other bets involving Venezuela, said the commission complaint.
Operation Absolute Resolve, as the capture of Maduro was named, was executed Jan. 3 in Caracas, Venezuela. He was brought to New York City and faced charges of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president two days later. She was formerly the vice president to Maduro.
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