Federal prosecutors have charged a Google employee, Michele Spagnuolo, with fraud, alleging he profited $1.2 million by using insider information to place bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket. Spagnuolo, who works as an information security engineer at Google, is accused of improperly leveraging access to confidential internal data to wager on which person would become the most searched on Google in 2025, specifically the singer d4vd.
The complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York and unsealed recently, outlines charges of money laundering, commodities fraud, and wire fraud against Spagnuolo. He was arrested in New York and appeared before a federal magistrate judge, where he did not enter a plea but was released on a $2.25 million bond.
Prosecutors revealed that Spagnuolo had access to Google’s internal systems and utilized specific software to retrieve confidential Year in Search data. Observers on the Polymarket platform had previously flagged the account “AlphaRaccoon” for suspicious trading related to searches for notable personalities. The complaint identified Spagnuolo as the individual behind this account.
According to the allegations, shortly after Google publicly announced its Year in Search results on December 4, 2025, Spagnuolo’s account swiftly profited around $1.2 million from his bets linked to the Year in Search outcomes. Google’s official statement confirmed their cooperation with law enforcement during the investigation, emphasizing their internal policies about the use of confidential information. The company has placed Spagnuolo on leave pending further action.
Polymarket has emphasized its collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), noting it is the only prediction market platform that has led to insider trading charges in the United States due to its cooperation. A spokesperson for Polymarket reiterated their commitment to maintaining fair and transparent markets while enforcing their rules.
In addition to the criminal charges, Spagnuolo faces a civil case from the CFTC based on allegations of insider trading. The commission noted that he had made accurate predictions on various other search market contracts, including those related to public interests, further underpinning the serious nature of the allegations.
This development marks the second significant insider trading case linked to Polymarket in recent weeks. Earlier in April, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a former U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant, was arrested for allegedly using classified information to bet on operations concerning the capture of Venezuela’s president, making over $400,000 from his trades. As investigations continue, the cases highlight ongoing concerns regarding insider trading within less conventional markets like prediction platforms.
