Soldier charged over Polymarket trades seeks dismissal

Prosecutors on Wednesday urged a federal judge in New York to reject a motion to dismiss the indictment against a U.S. special forces soldier who bet on Nicolas Maduro’s ouster from Venezuela, arguing that the conduct amounts to insider trading.

Gannon Van Dyke, who has pleaded not guilty, argued that the charges against him are novel and accused federal prosecutors of rushing to charge him over trades on Polymarket that he said aren't criminal.

Federal prosecutors defended the indictment, saying it breaks no new ground.

“The core theory of the Indictment is that Van Dyke took information that he had pledged to keep confidential and, though he was dutybound not to do so, he used it to make a personal profit. That theory of criminality is not new,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Chiuchiolo wrote.

“When, as here, a defendant is alleged to have monetized embezzled information through a trading market, the crime is popularly known as insider trading.”

Van Dyke took part in the U.S. military raid that captured Maduro from his Caracas compound and brought him to New York to face drug charges. In what prosecutors believe to be the first case involving insider trading on a prediction market, prosecutors allege that Van Dyke used inside knowledge to place 13 bets on the outcome of the Maduro operation.

“Courts have consistently held that conduct, such as that alleged against Van Dyke, is a form of fraud,” prosecutors said.

Van Dyke is scheduled to stand trial in December.