Special Forces Soldier Charged by DOJ for Using

PinkState has written at size about the profitable extraction of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from the nation in early January, during a U.S. Special Forces raid recognized as Operation Absolute Resolve. Under the duvet of evening, the troopers completed what was called a excellent operation and have been hailed as heroes. 

Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, the lead helicopter pilot who was injured by gunfire during the op, even acquired the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Trump during Feb.’s State of the Union speech. Maduro, as readers may bear in mind, at the moment sits in a NYC jail cell, awaiting justice.

READ MORE: What to Do If You’re Shot 3X During Maduro Operation? If You’re This Chinook Pilot, You Finish Mission

Night Stalkers Over Caracas: How U.S. Special Forces Pulled Off the Perfect Raid

On Thursday, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced the unsealing of an indictment against one of the troopers who took half in that raid, as Fox News’ Bill Melugin shared on his X account:

BREAKING: DOJ proclaims it has arrested a US Special Forces soldier who took half in the raid that captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro after the soldier allegedly pocketed $400,000 by betting more than $30,000 on Maduro’s elimination on Polymarket.

Name: GANNON KEN VAN DYKE

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 23, 2026

According to the indictment, Gannon Ken Van Dyke: 

has been an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, a army base situated in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In connection with his work, VAN DYKE signed nondisclosure agreements in which he promised to ‘never expose, publish, or reveal by writing, phrases, conduct, or in any other case . . . any categorized or delicate info’ relating to army operations. Starting around December 8, 2025, and persevering with through at least January 6, 2026, VAN DYKE was concerned in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve, a army operation to seize Maduro, and had access to delicate, nonpublic, categorized info about that operation.

But Van Dyke allegedly determined to place wagers on Polymarket, a predictive online market, beginning on Dec. 26, 2025. That yr, Polymarket opened: 

binary event contracts [wagers] associated to whether or not sure occasions involving Venezuela and/or Maduro would, or wouldn’t, happen. Those event contracts included the future chance of ‘US forces in Venezuela by’ sure dates, the future chance of Maduro being ‘out’ of or eliminated from energy by sure dates, the future chance of the U.S. invading Venezuela by on or before January 31, 2026, and the future chance of President Trump ‘invokeing War Powers against Venezuela’ by a sure date.

Van Dyke reportedly positioned 13 “Yes” bets between December 27, 2025, and the night of January 2, 2026, including on ‘U.S. Forces in Venezuela . . . by January 31, 2026’; ‘Maduro out by . . . January 31, 2026’; ‘Will the U.S. invade Venezuela by . . . January 31,’; or ‘Trump invokes War Powers against Venezuela by . . . January 31.’ “VAN DYKE bet a total of approximately $33,034 on those outcomes while in possession of classified nonpublic information about Operation Absolute Resolve.”

After President Trump announced the success of the Jan. 3 raid, Polymarket paid out the related wagers; Van Dyke allegedly made roughly $409,881. He then allegedly transformed the ill-gotten good points into cryptocurrency on a international exchange and created a new online brokerage account in which to deposit them. 

Reports of “unusual activity” associated to Maduro- and Venezuela-related Polymarket bets started to pop up on social media and in news tales, though. At this level, Van Dyke allegedly tried to cowl his tracks:

On or about January 6, 2026, for instance, VAN DYKE requested Polymarket to delete his Polymarket account, falsely claiming that he had misplaced access to the e-mail handle to which the account had been related. That same day, VAN DYKE modified the e-mail registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account to an e mail handle that was not subscribed to in his identify, and which he had created on or about December 14, 2025.

The announcement of the costs against the soldier was made in a joint assertion by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James C. Barnacle, Jr.

Acting AG Blanche said in a assertion:

“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.

“Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply.”

FBI Dir. Patel also made a assertion:

“Today’s announcement makes clear no one is above the law, and this FBI will do whatever it takes to defend the homeland and safeguard our nation’s secrets. Any clearance holders thinking of cashing in their access and knowledge for personal gain will be held accountable.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle’s assertion read:

“Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly betrayed his fellow troopers by using categorized info for his own financial gain.

“Van Dyke profited more than $400,000 by trading various outcomes related to Venezuela after learning of the operation because of his role as a U.S. Army soldier. The FBI will continue to investigate threats to our nation’s security especially from those entrusted to safeguard sensitive classified information and military operations.”

The case against Van Dyke is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and National Security and International Narcotics Unit.

The 38-year-old soldier has been charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, each of which carries a most sentence of 10 years in prison; one rely of wire fraud, which carries a most sentence of 20 years in prison; and one rely of an illegal financial transaction, which carries a most sentence of 10 years in prison.

As my colleague Ward Clark wrote earlier in April, the FBI announced the arrest of a former Special Operations worker, who held top secret clearance, for leaking categorized info to a journalist who was writing a guide.

READ MORE: FBI: Former Special Ops Employee Arrested for Passing Classified Files to Media and Others

Amateur Hour: ‘Journalist’ Names Source, FBI Hauls Her Away

In response to somebody on X asking why the soldier’s alleged actions are unlawful, Melugin answered:

It’s insider trading basically by profiting off of categorized information but more importantly it’s a critical OPSEC violation. That raid may have gone very badly if the enemy by some means discovered the U.S. was coming.

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 23, 2026

This is a developing story. PinkState will present additional particulars as more info turns into accessible.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s management, the warrior ethos is coming back to America’s army.

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