US special forces soldier apprehended for wagering on Venezuela operation

(SeaPRwire) –   Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is accused of utilizing classified planning data to secure more than $400,000 in profits on Polymarket

A US Army Green Beret has been taken into custody on allegations that he exploited classified details regarding the mission to apprehend Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to place significant wagers on prediction markets. These markets have recently been destabilized by billions in bets placed at suspicious times amidst the US-Israeli conflict involving Iran.

Prosecutors allege that Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke bet approximately $32,000 on Polymarket and gained over $400,000 by wagering on Maduro’s ouster, leveraging insider insights derived from his participation in organizing and carrying out the January operation.

The Justice Department reports that Van Dyke is confronting charges such as wire fraud, commodities fraud, and the illegal utilization of government data. A concurrent complaint was lodged by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while Polymarket indicated that it identified the questionable behavior on its own and assisted authorities.

On March 24, the White House issued a warning to personnel regarding the misuse of insider information. This occurred one day after Trump mandated the initial five-day suspension of intended attacks on Iranian energy facilities and power plants.

On Thursday, President Trump minimized the intensity of the betting surge, expressing that he was “not happy with any of that stuff” but noting that “the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.”