Google engineer charged over Polymarket bets leading to $1.2m profit

• A Google security engineer has been charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering after using internal search trend data to place bets on Polymarket, netting $1.2m in profit
• Michele Spagnuolo is accused of using a confidential internal Google tool to predict search trends and place bets under the alias "AlphaRacoon," accessing the data hours before placing each wager
• Authorities allege Spagnuolo moved $3.8m in USDC through a privacy swapping service to conceal the proceeds, while Google has placed him on leave, and the CFTC has filed a separate civil complaint against him

Another high-profile case has hit the wires as Polymarket and federal authorities have unearthed a high-profile insider case and have pinned a suspect.

According to an official complaint unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a Google security engineer used privileged information to place wagers on the popular prediction market platform, resulting in a $1.2m payout.

Google’s security engineer is alleged to have misused non-public information for prediction market gains

Spagnuolo now faces charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, and is accused of placing "wagers" when he already knew the outcome, tapping into non-public information through his position at Google.

"Spagnuolo personally profited more than approximately $1,200,000 from his trades based on nonpublic information. Once he won, Spagnuolo then took deliberate steps to conceal his unlawful use of nonpublic information by attempting to obscure the source and ownership of his unlawful proceeds," the complaint read.

The individual has been identified as Michele Spagnuolo, and he is alleged to have used his knowledge of what Google users were searching to place the bets and secure the payouts, specifically placing bets on who would appear on Google’s list of most-searched-for individuals in 2025.

Spagnuolo is alleged ot have used a specific tool Google has to keep track of search terms, allowing him to predict that D4vd would be the most searched-for individual in at least one specific case. Investigators allege that the engineer used an account called "AlphaRacoon" and placed the wagers on D4vd ahead of major news that the rapper was suspected of killing a 15-year-old girl.

Investigators also established that the internal Google tool was used by Spagnuolo just hours before the Alpharacoon account placed its bets. Spagnuolo is alleged to have initially moved $3.8m of USDC, a stablecoin cryptocurrency, into his alleged Polymarket account, and then later withdrew $5m of USDC to a wallet.

Google puts the employee on leave, as Spagnuolo is to be investigated fully

Spagnuolo is also alleged to have used a privacy swapping service meant to further obfuscate the origin of cryptocurrencies before finally cashing out the money to a payment processor in Italy, and an account that was opened using Spagnuolo’s government ID.

Google has issued a statement, addressing the news and ensuring that it has taken measures.

"We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation. The 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. We’ve placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action."

Spagnuolo is also facing a separate civil complaint filed against him by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates the sector.

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