US Authorities Arrest Green Beret for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a high-ranking Army official, Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, on charges of misusing classified government information for personal gain and fraud. Van Dyke allegedly used his knowledge of an impending military operation in Venezuela to place bets worth $33,000, resulting in winnings of approximately $400,000. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in late December 2025 and made 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 against Van Dyke, who is an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces. The Army claims that Van Dyke's actions compromised national security and put the lives of American service members at risk. After the raid, Van Dyke allegedly withdrew his winnings, converted them to a stablecoin, and transferred the funds to a foreign cryptocurrency vault before moving them to a brokerage account. The filing also notes that Van Dyke attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and changing his email address. Polymarket has stated that it identified Van Dyke's suspicious activity and reported it to the DOJ, cooperating with the subsequent investigation. The incident has drawn attention from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of betting on sensitive information, stating that the world has become 'somewhat of a casino' and that he does not conceptually favor such activities.