US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the Army, alleging that he used classified information to place bets on a military operation in Venezuela, which resulted in the detention of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The sergeant, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, allegedly used his knowledge of the forthcoming raid to place $33,000 in bets on Polymarket, ultimately winning around $400,000. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in December 2025 and placed 13 bets between then and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the potential US military action in Venezuela. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke. The defendant is an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces and was involved in the planning and execution of the operation to detain Maduro. After the raid, Van Dyke allegedly attempted to conceal his identity and withdrew his winnings, converting them to a cryptocurrency and transferring them to a brokerage account. The case has drawn attention from news organizations and has prompted comments from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of the use of confidential information for personal gain.