US Arrests Green Beret Over Alleged Insider Trading on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the US Army, alleging he used classified information about a military operation in Venezuela to place bets and win a substantial amount of money. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, allegedly created a Polymarket account and placed multiple bets on the outcome of the operation, including whether US forces would remove Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The indictment charges Van Dyke with unlawful use of confidential government information, theft of non-public government information, and fraud. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke, stating that his actions endangered US national security and put American service members' lives at risk. After winning around $400,000, Van Dyke allegedly attempted to conceal his identity and withdrew the funds, converting them to a cryptocurrency and moving them into a brokerage account. The case has drawn attention from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of betting using confidential information.