US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a high-ranking Army officer for allegedly using classified information to place bets on a military operation in Venezuela. Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a member of the elite US Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, allegedly used his knowledge of the forthcoming raid to place $33,000 in bets, which yielded approximately $400,000 in winnings. The DOJ has charged Van Dyke 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 between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the US military operation in Venezuela. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke. The agency's Chairman, Mike Selig, stated that Van Dyke's actions endangered US 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 cryptocurrency, and transferred the funds to a brokerage account. The case came to light after news organizations noticed the large profit made on the Polymarket bets, and Van Dyke attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and changing his email address. The US President has also commented on the issue, expressing his disapproval of betting using confidential information.