On June 8, a federal judge announced that U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been scheduled to go to trial on December 7 for charges of using insider information to trade on Polymarket. The U.S. Department of Justice first shared that a U.S. soldier was charged with using insider info
On June 8, a federal judge announced that U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been scheduled to go to trial on December 7 for charges of using insider information to trade on Polymarket.
The U.S. Department of Justice first shared that a U.S. soldier was charged with using insider info on Maduro raid bets on April 23, and it was also revealed that Van Dyke earned more than $400,000 as a result.
Authorities accused him of placing 13 bets using non-public information about the capture operation and then trying to destroy evidence of the trade; however, Van Dyke pleaded not guilty to all charges. At the moment, the soldier is free on a $250,000 bond and is on leave from the Army, according to defense attorney Zach Intrater.
Prosecutors stated during the June 8 hearing that they had completed most of the evidence disclosure and believe that their case will take around a week to present. Meanwhile, defense attorneys said they plan to file a motion to dismiss the indictment by July 31, with attorney Mark Geragos arguing that it would be impossible to fully present the case as most of the details are classified.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos commented:
“There’s only one person who could have ordered the operation; that one person is the president. 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 is the first of its kind to target prediction market insider trading and is one of the biggest legal challenges in the United States against prediction platforms.