US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Placing $400,000 in Bets on Venezuela Raid

A US Army master sergeant has been arrested and charged with unlawfully using confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, and fraud. Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly used his knowledge of an upcoming military operation in Venezuela to place bets worth $33,000, which yielded approximately $400,000 in winnings. According to the US Department of Justice, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets between December 26, 2025, 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, who is an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces. Van Dyke's actions allegedly compromised US national security and put American service members' lives 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 when news organizations noticed significant profits made from 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 commented on the allegations, expressing his disapproval of the use of confidential information for betting purposes.