US Authorities Detain Army Green Beret Over $400,000 Bet on Venezuela Operation

The US Department of Justice has arrested a high-ranking Army official, Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, for allegedly using classified information to place bets on a military operation in Venezuela. The operation aimed to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Van Dyke is accused of using his knowledge of the impending raid to place $33,000 in bets, which yielded approximately $400,000 in winnings. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in late December 2025 and placed 13 bets between then and early January 2026, speculating on the likelihood of US forces landing in Venezuela, removing Maduro, and other related events. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke, stating that his actions compromised national security and put American service members' lives at risk. Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, allegedly attempted to conceal his identity and winnings by withdrawing the funds, converting them to a stablecoin, and transferring them to a brokerage account. The incident has drawn attention from news organizations and has prompted US President Donald Trump to comment on the issue, expressing his disapproval of the use of confidential information for personal gain in prediction markets.