US Authorities Arrest Green Beret Over Alleged $400,000 Bet on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has taken a Master Sergeant from the Army into custody, alleging that he utilized confidential government information for personal financial gain by placing wagers on a military operation in Venezuela. The operation aimed to apprehend the country's former leader, Nicolas Maduro. According to an unsealed indictment, Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been charged with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, and fraud. The charges stem from his alleged use of insider knowledge about the impending raid to place $33,000 in bets, which yielded about $400,000 in winnings after the operation. The defendant's actions have been condemned by US Attorney Jay Clayton, who stated, "The defendant allegedly breached the trust placed in him by the US Government by leveraging classified information about a sensitive military operation to place bets on the operation's timing and outcome, all for the purpose of turning a profit. This is a clear case of insider trading and is prohibited under federal law." It is alleged that Van Dyke created a Polymarket account on December 26, 2025, and placed 13 bets between then and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the likelihood of US forces landing in Venezuela, removing Maduro, and similar events. In conjunction with the criminal investigation, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is pursuing an insider trading complaint in federal court. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig noted, "The defendant was entrusted with confidential information regarding US operations, yet he took actions that jeopardized US national security and put the lives of American service members at risk." As an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, commonly known as the 'green berets,' Van Dyke was based at Fort Bragg. The indictment indicates that he was involved in the planning and execution of the military operation to apprehend Maduro. Following the raid, Van Dyke allegedly withdrew the funds, converted the winnings to a bridged version of USDC, transferred them to a foreign cryptocurrency 'vault,' and then began withdrawing the funds and moving them into a brokerage account, as stated in the filing. The filing also mentions that the substantial profit made from these Polymarket bets had caught the attention of news organizations. Furthermore, it is alleged that Van Dyke requested Polymarket to delete his account and changed his email address in an attempt to conceal his identity. In a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Polymarket stated, "Upon identifying a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ and cooperated with their investigation." US President Donald Trump expressed his concerns about the allegations, stating that he would investigate claims of federal reporters placing prediction market bets using confidential information, as reported by Bloomberg. "The world has unfortunately become somewhat of a casino," he said. "If you look at what's happening globally, in Europe, and everywhere else, they're engaging in these betting activities. I was never in favor of it, and I don't like the concept." UPDATE (April 23, 2026, 20:35 UTC): This article has been updated to include comments from the CFTC and Trump. UPDATE (April 23, 2026, 20:45 UTC): This article has been updated to include a post from Polymarket and provide clarification on the role of green berets.