Google Engineer Charged With $1.2M Polymarket Insider Trades

A Google software engineer has been charged with using confidential company information to place millions of dollars in bets on the prediction platform Polymarket, generating more than 1.2 million dollars in profits, according to federal prosecutors. Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian national based in Switzerland, worked as a staff information security engineer at the tech giant and allegedly accessed internal trends tied to Google's annual Year in Search report to inform his trades.

The Department of Justice announced the charges this week, accusing Spagnuolo of violating the Commodity Exchange Act along with counts of wire fraud and money laundering. Those offenses carry a potential maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. Court documents detail how Spagnuolo created a Polymarket account under the username AlphaRaccoon last year and placed roughly 2.75 million dollars in wagers between October and December on markets predicting the most-searched individuals in Google's 2025 Year in Search results.

The bets included smaller initial wagers on figures such as Kendrick Lamar and emerging artists like D4vd, which grew into much larger positions. One trade placed more than 937,000 dollars against Bianca Censori being the top-searched person, while another risked over 509,000 dollars that Donald Trump would not rank first. Prosecutors say Spagnuolo repeatedly accessed nonpublic data that gave him an edge in assessing probabilities that were not available to ordinary traders on the platform.

Federal authorities described the case as a clear example of corporate insiders exploiting privileged access for personal gain. Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that the charges send a familiar message that employees cannot convert confidential business information into market profits. FBI Assistant Director James C. Barnacle noted that Spagnuolo had access to internal Google trends that he is accused of misusing.

Spagnuolo's role at Google involved information security, a position that would have provided broad visibility into company data systems. The complaint outlines how he allegedly checked Year in Search figures multiple times, adjusting bets as the internal numbers shifted. One example cited a November wager on artist D4vd after re-accessing updated data that differed from an earlier October review.

Prediction markets like Polymarket have drawn increased attention as venues where participants can wager on events ranging from elections to cultural trends. The charges against Spagnuolo highlight enforcement efforts to prevent those platforms from becoming outlets for illegal trading based on material nonpublic information. Prosecutors emphasized that the conduct undermined the integrity of markets open to the public.

Spagnuolo remains in Switzerland, and the case will proceed in federal court in New York. The allegations underscore ongoing concerns about how employees at major technology firms handle sensitive internal data amid the rapid growth of online betting markets.