Google Engineer Charged in $1.2M Polymarket Insider Bet
- Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo was arrested Wednesday in New York after federal prosecutors unsealed charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, alleging he fraudulently made more than $1 million through Polymarket bets.
- Spagnuolo's access to Google's confidential search data enabled him to bet through an account named AlphaRaccoon that singer D4vd would rank as Google's most-searched person in 2025—a prediction Polymarket assigned near-zero probability to.
- Prosecutors alleged that unlike other traders, Spagnuolo "knew the outcome of these wagers before the trading public did because he had accessed Google's confidential, commercially valuable internal data." After winning, he "took deliberate steps to conceal his unlawful use of nonpublic information."
- Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen, was arrested in New York and scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate Wednesday, though it remained unclear whether he had secured legal counsel.
- This case marks the second prediction market prosecution by the Southern District of New York this year; soldier Gannon Van Dyke pleaded not guilty last month to similar charges involving Polymarket bets on the classified Venezuela raid that ousted Nicholas Maduro.
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Michele Spagnuolo appeared before a federal magistrate on Wednesday and was released on bail of $2.25 million
Which person was Googled the most in 2025? This engineer knew it in front of the public – and made the information on a betting platform into money. It is the second arrest for insider trading on forecast markets.
A Google Engineer Used Confidential Search Data to Win $1.2 Million on Polymarket, Feds Say — His Best Bet Involved an Alleged Killer
Michele Spagnuolo allegedly used internal data to bet on accused killer D4vd becoming Google's most-searched person of 2025.
In what is already seen as one of the most unusual cases of insider trading in the digital age, U.S. Justice arrested Michele Spagnuolo, a Google software engineer accused of setting up a million-dollar scam using confidential information from the world’s most famous search engine. Under the alias “AlphaRaccoon” (Alfa Raccoon), this 36-year-old Italian citizen based in Switzerland managed to bag more than $1.2 million by betting on Polymarket, a…
The Italian man has bet on several things based on insider information, but his bet on the most Googled person is the best.
US charges Google security engineer with Polymarket insider trading
A Google security engineer was charged with insider trading after winning $1.2 million using confidential company data to place bets on the cryptocurrency-based Polymarket decentralized prediction market.
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