US Arrests Green Beret for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the Army's Special Forces for allegedly using classified information to place bets on a military operation in Venezuela. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is accused of using his knowledge of the operation to place $33,000 in bets, resulting in winnings of approximately $400,000. The indictment alleges that 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 Nicolas Maduro. Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier based at Fort Bragg, was involved in the planning and execution of the operation. 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 into a brokerage account. The case came to light after news organizations noticed the large profit made on the Polymarket bets, and Van Dyke allegedly attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and changing his email address. The US President has commented on the allegations, stating that he would look into reports of federal reporters placing bets using confidential information.