US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the US Army, alleging that he used his knowledge of a forthcoming military operation in Venezuela to place bets and win a substantial amount of money. According to the indictment, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, created a Polymarket account and placed several bets on the outcome of the raid, which aimed to detain former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Van Dyke allegedly used his knowledge of the operation to place $33,000 in bets, resulting in winnings of around $400,000. The US Attorney's office has charged Van Dyke with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, and fraud. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke. The case has drawn attention to the issue of insider trading and the use of confidential information for personal gain, with US President Donald Trump expressing his disapproval of the practice.