A U.S. Army Green Beret solider has been arrested for a $400,000 U.S. bet he made on Polymarket concerning the U.S. raid on Venezuela earlier this year.
The U.S. Department of Justice arrested a Master Sergeant with the Army on allegations he placed wagers on the raid and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro before he himself participated in the U.S. military operation.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been charged with the unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of non-public government information, and fraud.
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The charges allege that he used his knowledge of the upcoming raid on Venezuela to place a $33,000 U.S. bet on Polymarket, winning $400,000 U.S. after the raid was executed.
The arrest is the latest example of a crackdown on insider trading that is taking place on prediction markets such as Polymarket.
Earlier this week, rival prediction market Kalshi sanctioned three U.S. politicians who bet on the outcomes of their own Congressional election races.
In the case of the Venezuela raid, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account on Dec. 26, 2025, and placed 13 bets through Jan. 2, 2026, on whether U.S. forces would land in Venezuela and remove Maduro.
In addition to the criminal charges, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is pursuing an insider trading complaint in federal court against Van Dyke.
Allegations of insider trading have led to increased scrutiny and lawsuits against Polymarket and Kalshi in recent months.
Both predictions markets are privately held and their stocks do not trade on public exchanges.