An American special forces soldier was arrested on Thursday for allegedly betting on the departure of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro shortly before his capture was announced. This is reported by the US Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, the soldier was involved in the planning and execution of the US operation to capture Maduro. With that inside information, he allegedly bet more than 33,000 dollars (more than 28,000 euros) on the prediction platform Polymarket, including on Maduro’s departure and the deployment of American troops in Venezuela. The bets are visible to the public, although the users behind them remain anonymous. They already attracted attention at the time and led to suspicions of insider trading.
After the announcement of the operation by President Donald Trump, the bets earned the soldier more than 400,000 dollars (about 340,000 euros) in profit, according to Justice. He is accused of, among other things, fraud, theft of non-public government information and prohibited financial gain.
The suspect risks a prison sentence of twenty years.
Controversial
Prediction platforms such as Polymarket and competitor Kalshi have become much more popular in recent years, but also controversial. Users can bet money on the outcome of political, economic and social events, but also on sensitive topics such as wars or even the return of Jesus Christ.
Polymarket previously also came under fire in the Netherlands. The Gaming Authority imposed a penalty on the platform because it offered games of chance without a license. Since then, Dutch users can no longer gamble on Polymarket and can only watch.
