A Google engineer has been accused by US authorities of using confidential company information to make more than 11 Crore rupees in profits on prediction market platform Polymarket, in a case that has sharpened scrutiny over the use of non public corporate data in online betting markets.
Michele Spagnuolo, identified by the US Department of Justice as a 36 year old Italian citizen living in Switzerland, is accused of trading on the platform under the alias AlphaRaccoon and placing Google related bets using non public company information. According to the complaint, he made the trades between October 15, 2025 and December 4, 2025, after creating the Polymarket account in May 2024.
How Prosecutors Say the Trades Were Made
According to the Justice Department, Spagnuolo placed about $2.75 million in bets on markets linked to Google’s internal information. Prosecutors said he had access to Google’s internal data systems, including an internal software tool that gave him access to confidential, non public data.
The complaint said the tool displayed a banner reading “Google Confidential” in red text and that Spagnuolo had certified his understanding of Google’s confidentiality and ethics policies. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was part of the team that created the “inventory of AI Agents across Alphabet/Google.”
Prosecutors alleged that he used this internal information to place a series of Google related bets on Polymarket, a prediction market platform where users can wager on topics ranging from the release of new AI models to market valuation milestones and search related outcomes.
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Charges, Arrest and Google’s Response
Spagnuolo was arrested on Wednesday morning in New York and appeared before a federal magistrate judge, where he did not enter a plea. He was released on a $2.25 million bond.
He has been charged under the Commodity Exchange Act, as well as with wire fraud and money laundering. According to the report, the charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. He is also facing a civil case from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which alleges insider trading.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said the charges reinforced a long standing principle that corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to profit in markets. Google, quoted in the report, said the employee had accessed its marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but said using such confidential information to place bets was a serious breach of company policy. The company said it had placed him on leave and would take appropriate action.
What the Complaint Says He Bet On
According to the complaint, Spagnuolo used confidential information to place correct bets that singer D4vd would be Google’s most searched person in 2025. The complaint also said the AlphaRaccoon account correctly predicted other search related outcomes, including contracts on whether Zohran Mamdani would rank in the top five most searched and whether Squid Game would be the number one searched TV show.
The report said Google publicly announced its Year in Search 2025 results on or about December 4, 2025, after which the AlphaRaccoon account made about $1.2 million in profit on those bets. Some observers on Polymarket had reportedly flagged the account in December over suspicious trades on the most searched person contracts.
Polymarket said it remained committed to maintaining accurate, fair and transparent markets and to enforcing its rules while working with regulators and law enforcement. The case is not the first to raise concerns over insider activity on prediction markets. Earlier this year, the White House warned staff members not to use insider information to place bets on such platforms, following wider concern that non public information could be used to secure profits in these markets.
About the author – Rehan Khan is a law student and legal journalist with a keen interest in cybercrime, digital fraud, and emerging technology laws. He writes on the intersection of law, cybersecurity, and online safety, focusing on developments that impact individuals and institutions in India.
