US Army Green Beret Arrested for Illegally Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has taken a master sergeant into custody, alleging that he used sensitive information about a military operation in Venezuela to place bets worth $33,000, which ultimately yielded around $400,000 in winnings. The sergeant, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, is said to have created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the potential US invasion of Venezuela and the removal of Nicolas Maduro. According to the indictment, Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of the operation and used his knowledge to inform his betting decisions. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke, with the agency's chairman stating that the defendant's actions endangered US national security and put the lives of American service members at risk. Following the raid, Van Dyke allegedly attempted to conceal his identity by withdrawing his winnings, converting them to a cryptocurrency, and transferring the funds to a brokerage account. The case has drawn attention from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of the use of confidential information for betting purposes.