US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

A US Army master sergeant has been arrested and charged with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft, and fraud. Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly used his knowledge of an upcoming military operation in Venezuela to place bets worth $33,000, which yielded a profit of approximately $400,000. The US Department of Justice claims that Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the US operation in Venezuela. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint. Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, was involved in the planning and execution of the operation to detain Maduro. After the raid, he allegedly withdrew his winnings, converted them to a cryptocurrency, and sent them to a foreign 'vault' before moving the funds into a brokerage account. The case has drawn attention to the potential risks of insider trading and the use of confidential information for personal gain.