US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Placing Bets on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the US Army, alleging that he unlawfully used confidential government information for personal gain by placing bets on a military operation in Venezuela. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is accused of using his knowledge of the forthcoming raid to place $33,000 in bets, resulting in winnings of around $400,000. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the US military operation in Venezuela. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke. The defendant allegedly attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and changing his email address. Van Dyke is an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces and was involved in the planning and execution of the military operation to detain former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The case has sparked comments from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of the use of confidential information for betting purposes.