US Arrests Army Green Beret Over Alleged $400,000 Bet on Venezuela Raid

A US Army master sergeant has been arrested for allegedly using classified information to place bets on a military operation in Venezuela, resulting in winnings of approximately $400,000. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, is charged with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, and fraud. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets on contracts related to the US military operation in Venezuela, including whether US forces would land in the country and remove Maduro. The US Department of Justice claims that Van Dyke's actions constitute insider trading and endangered US national security. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke. After the raid, Van Dyke allegedly withdrew his winnings, converted them to a cryptocurrency, and moved them to a brokerage account. The incident has drawn attention from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of using confidential information for betting purposes.