Google Engineer Charged With $1.2M Polymarket Insider Trades

A Google software engineer stands accused of turning confidential company information into more than a million dollars in profits by placing targeted bets on the prediction platform Polymarket. Federal prosecutors say Michele Spagnuolo, 36, an Italian national working from Switzerland, operated under the username AlphaRaccoon and wagered roughly 2.75 million dollars between October and December 2025 on outcomes tied directly to Google's internal Year in Search data.

Court filings describe how Spagnuolo, a staff information security engineer at the company, accessed confidential trends and used them to place bets on which individuals would rank among the most searched names in Google's annual report. Early wagers included a few hundred dollars on Kendrick Lamar topping the list. Later bets grew larger and more specific, including over 937,000 dollars against Bianca Censori finishing first and more than 509,000 dollars against Donald Trump appearing at the top. Smaller positions targeted figures such as Pope Leo XIV and the artist D4vd, with odds shifting after Spagnuolo allegedly rechecked internal data in November.

The Department of Justice alleges these trades violated the Commodity Exchange Act along with charges of wire fraud and money laundering. If convicted, Spagnuolo faces a maximum of 50 years in prison. New York district attorney Jay Clayton stated that corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in markets. FBI officials noted that Spagnuolo had routine access to internal Google trends that gave him an edge unavailable to ordinary traders.

Spagnuolo created the Polymarket account in 2024 while employed at Google. The bets focused exclusively on the Year in Search release, a yearly compilation that draws widespread public attention. Prosecutors claim the engineer placed multiple trades after viewing updated internal figures that reflected changes in search volume. One complaint details a sequence where Spagnuolo increased exposure on certain names after confirming shifts in the confidential data.

Google has not commented on whether internal controls failed to flag the activity. The case highlights how prediction markets now intersect with corporate data that remains shielded from public view. Spagnuolo's reported winnings reached 1.2 million dollars before authorities moved to charge him. The investigation drew on trading records that matched the timing of his alleged access to company systems.

The charges mark another instance of federal authorities pursuing individuals who convert private corporate knowledge into financial gain through newer betting platforms. Spagnuolo remains in Switzerland, and extradition proceedings have not yet been detailed in public filings.