US Authorities Arrest Army Green Beret Over Alleged Insider Trading on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a high-ranking Army official for allegedly using classified information to place wagers on a military operation in Venezuela, which led to the detention of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The indictment, unsealed on Thursday, charges Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, and fraud. According to the charges, Van Dyke used his knowledge of the impending raid to place $33,000 in bets on Polymarket, ultimately winning around $400,000. US Attorney Jay Clayton stated that Van Dyke's actions constitute clear insider trading and are illegal under federal law. Van Dyke allegedly created a Polymarket account in late December 2025 and placed 13 bets between then and early January 2026 on contracts related to the potential US military action in Venezuela. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint in federal court, with Chairman Mike Selig noting that Van Dyke's actions endangered US national security and put the lives of American service members at risk. As an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of the operation to detain Maduro. Following the raid, Van Dyke allegedly withdrew his winnings, converted them to a bridged version of USDC, and transferred the funds to a foreign cryptocurrency 'vault' before moving them into a brokerage account. The filing notes that Van Dyke's significant profits on these bets had been noticed by news organizations, prompting him to ask Polymarket to delete his account and change his email in an attempt to conceal his identity. In response to the allegations, Polymarket stated that they had identified a user trading on classified government information and referred the matter to the DOJ, cooperating with their investigation. US President Donald Trump has also weighed in on the issue, expressing his disapproval of the use of confidential information for betting purposes and stating that he would look into allegations of federal reporters engaging in similar activities.