A US Army Special Forces soldier accused by federal regulators of using confidential military information to profit from prediction market trades is asking a federal judge to move quickly toward considering dismissal of the government’s civil enforcement case.
In a July 6 letter to US District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr., attorneys for Gannon Ken Van Dyke requested a pre-motion conference before filing an expected motion to dismiss the US. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s complaint. The defense argued that the agency’s allegations “have already caused serious negative effects on Van Dyke’s reputation, career, and family” and urged the court to move the case forward “as expeditiously as possible.”
The CFTC sued Van Dyke on April 23, 2026. His lawyers describe the case as unprecedented, saying it presents multiple first-impression questions about the scope of the Commodity Exchange Act and the commission’s authority.
Federal prosecutors separately allege Van Dyke, 38, used classified planning information while stationed at Fort Bragg to place about $33,000 in Polymarket wagers tied to a US operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. According to prosecutors, he turned those bets into roughly $409,881 after U.S. special forces captured Maduro in Caracas during the early hours of Jan. 3, 2026.
The CFTC alleges Van Dyke fraudulently misappropriated confidential military information between December 2025 and January 2026 and used it to purchase event contracts on Polymarket.com. According to the defense filing, the agency claims those contracts qualify as swaps because they are settled based on whether a specified future event occurs.
The commission is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement, restitution and civil monetary penalties. Van Dyke’s attorneys also noted the three civil counts closely mirror the first three charges in his parallel criminal case in the Southern District of New York, where he previously pleaded not guilty.
His lawyers argue the prediction market contracts were simply geopolitical wagers over whether Maduro would leave power during a defined period and therefore do not qualify as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act because they are “settled based on the occurrence or non-occurrence of a specified future event with potential financial, economic, or commercial consequences.”
They also contend that, even if the law is ambiguous, fair notice, due process principles and the rule of lenity support interpreting it narrowly because no comparable enforcement action has previously been filed.
The defense further argues CFTC Regulation 180.1 exceeds the authority Congress granted the agency and therefore cannot support liability. Regulation 180.1 is the CFTC’s anti-fraud rule, which prohibits deceptive or manipulative conduct in connection with swaps and certain commodity market transactions.
The dispute has attracted attention because prosecutors describe it as the Justice Department’s first criminal insider trading case centered on prediction markets. Authorities also allege Van Dyke attempted to conceal his winnings by moving cryptocurrency through foreign wallet services and altering account details.
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