Michele Spagnuolo allegedly used insider info to revenue from bets on individuals on Google’s most-searched checklist.
Printed On 28 Could 2026
A Google software program engineer has been charged with fraud by US authorities after allegedly utilizing insider info to win greater than $1.2m in bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket.
Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland, is accused of utilizing confidential info to wager on the outcomes of Google’s annual most-searched checklist, in line with a felony grievance unsealed on Wednesday.
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US prosecutors accuse Spagnuolo of utilizing an account named “AlphaRaccoon” to make trades on varied markets linked to the outcomes of Google’s 2025 Yr in Search.
The whole sum of the bets was roughly $2.75m, in line with the grievance, filed in federal court docket in New York.
Among the many bets, Spagnuolo efficiently predicted that indie pop musician d4vd would prime the checklist for the most-searched for particular person final 12 months, hours after accessing confidential information at Google, in line with prosecutors.
Spagnuolo, 36, faces prices of commodities fraud, wire fraud and cash laundering.
“At this time’s prices reinforce a decades-old message: company insiders can not use confidential enterprise info to show a revenue in our markets,” US Lawyer for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton mentioned in a press release.
“Insider buying and selling compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American individuals need this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted,” Clayton added.
Bets on Maduro’s seize
Google mentioned in a press release that it’s working with regulation enforcement and that utilizing confidential info to position bets is a severe breach of firm coverage.
Spagnuolo has been positioned on go away, in line with a Google spokesperson.
A Polymarket spokesperson mentioned the corporate had labored intently with the US Lawyer’s Workplace on the investigation and that the agency “is the one prediction platform to this point whose cooperation has led to insider buying and selling prices in america”.
“We’re dedicated to sustaining correct, honest, and clear markets in addition to implementing our guidelines and dealing with our regulators and regulation enforcement,” the spokesperson added.
Final month, a US soldier was charged with utilizing classified military information to position bets on Polymarket relating to the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Prosecutors accuse Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, of cashing in on the US operation towards Maduro, to the tune of greater than $400,000.
