Google employee charged with insider trading over Polymarket bets | Crime News
Google Engineer Charged with Fraud Over Insider Betting
A Google software engineer has been charged with fraud by U.S. authorities for allegedly utilizing insider information to profit from more than $1.2 million in bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket.
Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen living in Switzerland, is accused of using confidential data to wager on the results of Google’s annual most-searched list, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on May 28.
Federal prosecutors claim Spagnuolo operated an account under the name “AlphaRaccoon” to make trades related to Google’s 2025 Year in Search outcomes. The total amount of wagers reached approximately $2.75 million, the complaint states.
Notably, Spagnuolo reportedly anticipated that indie pop musician d4vd would be the most-searched person last year, a prediction made just hours after he accessed sensitive information at Google.
Spagnuolo, 36, faces multiple charges, including commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
“Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” said Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement. “Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.”
In response to the allegations, Google stated that it is cooperating with law enforcement and emphasized that using confidential information for betting constitutes a serious violation of company policy. Following the charges, Spagnuolo has been placed on leave from his position, according to a Google spokesperson.
A representative from Polymarket noted that the platform had worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office during the investigation, highlighting that it is the first prediction market to facilitate insider trading charges in the United States. “We are committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets as well as enforcing our rules and working with our regulators and law enforcement,” the representative stated.
This incident follows another case in which a U.S. soldier was charged with using classified military information to place bets regarding the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Polymarket. Prosecutors allege that Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, profited over $400,000 from the operation against Maduro.
