Green Beret Accused of Betting on Nicolás Maduro Capture Wants Case Tossed
Green Beret DOJ Can't Turn Alleged Maduro Bets Into a Crime!!!
Published
The Green Beret accused of using classified intel to cash in on the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is now betting a federal judge will toss the entire case.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke filed a motion Friday asking the judge to dismiss five charges accusing him of illegally using and stealing secret government information, defrauding the commodities market, committing wire fraud and moving money from the alleged scheme.
According to the filing, obtained by TMZ, Van Dyke's team of attorneys, including Mark Geragos, call the prosecution a first-of-its-kind "experiment" that twists federal commodities law to create a crime that didn't exist.
Prosecutors claim Van Dyke used classified information he learned while helping plan and execute the military operation to capture Maduro ... placing 13 Venezuela-related wagers and turning roughly $34,000 into nearly $410,000.
But his lawyers say the law was written to police Wall Street-style trades -- not bets on whether a world leader will be removed from power.
The defense also takes aim at the wire fraud charge ... arguing classified military plans aren't government "property" because Uncle Sam wasn't using them to make money.
Van Dyke's team says the money laundering charge must fall too because it depends entirely on the wire fraud count surviving.
If the judge agrees, it could kneecap the government's case ... and change how similar Polymarket cases are prosecuted.
