A Google software engineer has been charged with insider trading for allegedly using confidential company data to place profitable bets on the prediction market Polymarket. The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a complaint on Wednesday, detailing how Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen living in Switzerland, misused his access to Google's internal search data to make $1.2 million in profits.
Spagnuolo, who worked as a staff information security engineer at Google, is accused of using an account under the username "AlphaRaccoon" to place bets on Polymarket. Prosecutors allege he placed a bet in November 2025 that indie pop musician D4vd would be Google's most-searched person of the year, a prediction that was publicly announced in December 2025. At the time of the bet, Polymarket assigned a "near-zero probability" to D4vd topping the list, making the bet particularly lucrative.
The complaint also alleges Spagnuolo placed other bets based on Google's internal data, including a bet in October 2025 that rapper Kendrick Lamar would be the most-searched person of the year. Spagnuolo was arrested in New York on Wednesday and appeared before a federal magistrate judge. He was released on a $2.25 million bond, secured by $1 million in cash and $50,000 in property.
Google confirmed it is cooperating with law enforcement and has placed Spagnuolo on leave. The company stated that while the employee accessed marketing material using a tool available to all employees, using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of its policies. Polymarket also confirmed it worked closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the investigation.
The CFTC brought a separate civil case against Spagnuolo for allegedly violating commodities law. Prosecutors allege Spagnuolo took steps to conceal his unlawful use of nonpublic information by attempting to obscure the source and ownership of his unlawful proceeds.
Spagnuolo has been charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The case highlights the growing scrutiny of insider trading in prediction markets and the potential misuse of confidential corporate data for personal gain.