A Google software engineer has been charged by U.S. authorities with fraud after allegedly using inside information to win more than $1.2 million from bets on the Polymarket prediction platform.
According to a criminal complaint released Wednesday, Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland, is accused of using confidential information to bet on the results of Google’s annual top search list.
U.S. prosecutors allege Spagnuolo used an account named “AlphaRaccoon” to execute trades across multiple markets related to Google's “Year in Search 2025” results. The total wagers amounted to approximately $2.75 million, according to the complaint filed in federal court in New York.
Among the bets, Spagnuolo is alleged to have correctly predicted that indie pop artist d4vd would top the most-searched list last year, just hours after accessing confidential data at Google. Spagnuolo, 36, faces charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
“Today’s charges reinforce a decades-long message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to profit in the markets,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said in a statement. Clayton added: “Insider trading undermines the integrity of the markets, and the American people want this kind of greed investigated and prosecuted.”
Google said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and that using confidential information to place bets is a serious violation of company policy. A Google spokesperson said Spagnuolo has been placed on leave.
A Polymarket spokesperson said the company has worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the investigation and that the company is “the only prediction platform so far whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the U.S.” The spokesperson added: “We are committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets, as well as enforcing our rules and cooperating with regulators and law enforcement.”
Last month, a U.S. soldier was charged with using classified military information to bet on Polymarket about the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Prosecutors allege Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, profited more than $400,000 from the U.S. military operation against Maduro.
