NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. prosecutors slapped insider trading charges against a Google employee this week, alleging the software engineer used confidential company information to pocket more than $1.2 million from platform Polymarket with bets on search trends.
In a complaint unsealed in New York, authorities identified the employee as 36-year-old Michele Spagnuolo 鈥� an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland who has worked for Google since 2014. Under the online name 鈥淎lphaRaccoon,鈥� they alleged, Spagnuolo used the company’s 2025 data before it was published to enter Polymarket wagers about the most trending Googled people of last year.
This week’s charges 鈥渞einforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,鈥� Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday. 鈥淚nsider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.鈥�
Spagnuolo allegedly made new Polymarket trades as Google鈥檚 internal search data evolved, from October into December of last year. For example, per the complaint, Spagnuolo initially wagered that Kendrick Lamar 鈥� the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show 鈥� would top search trends for people last year. But after internal Google data showed that was later leading the influx of searches, he placed new bets. D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was with murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Using the prediction market鈥檚 鈥測es鈥� or 鈥渘o鈥� wagers, Spagnuolo also made a series of Polymarket trades about other individuals who would or wouldn’t rank in Google’s 2025 search trends, the complaint said. And after the data was published on Dec. 4, the AlphaRaccoon account soon pocketed sizeable profits. An FBI investigation later traced its cryptocurrency payments.
An attorney for Spagnuolo was not immediately identified. California-based Google confirmed to The Associated Press it had placed its employee on leave.
鈥淭he employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies,鈥� a Google spokesperson said in a statement 鈥� adding the company was working with law enforcement and 鈥渨ill take the appropriate action.鈥�
Polymarket reiterated it too worked closely with authorities. A spokesperson also touted that the company 鈥渋s the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States鈥� 鈥� and maintained blockchain trading, which Polymarket uses, is 鈥渢ransparent, traceable, and bad actors leave footprints.鈥�
Spagnuolo isn’t first person to face insider trading charges spanning from Polymarket trades. Last month, the government also charged a special forces soldier who made over $400,000 from Polymarket trades betting on the downfall of former . The solider allegedly used classified information ahead of January’s U.S. military operation, which he was a part of.
Such scandals have put the spotlight on a of speculative, 24/7 transactions now . Prediction markets sell event contracts 鈥� so they’re also categorized and regulated differently from traditional forms of gambling. That’s raised concerns about consumer protections, and legal battles over government oversight.
President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration has already behind company operators 鈥� and over their regulation efforts. Meanwhile, the industry is scrambling to assure the public . Polymarket recently rewrote its rules to clearly state users cannot trade on contracts where they might possess confidential information, or could influence the outcome of an event.
Spagnuolo is being charged with violating the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act, wire fraud and money laundering. He could face years of prison time.
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