TechCrunch
The U.S. Justice Department has formally charged Michele Spagnuolo, a software engineer at Google, with insider trading. The charges stem from allegations that he generated $1.2 million through trades on Polymarket, utilizing proprietary business information from his employer.
Operating under the pseudonym "AlphaRaccoon" on Polymarket, Spagnuolo has been a Google employee for more than 12 years, as indicated by his LinkedIn profile.
"As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he owed to his employer and used Google's confidential business information to make more than $1.2 million in trading profits on Polymarket," stated Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a press release. "Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people demand that such greed-driven conduct be both investigated and prosecuted."
Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi permit users to place bets on a wide array of topics. While insider trading is prohibited on these sites due to its illegal nature, some participants continue to engage in this activity. Recently, the Justice Department also charged a U.S. Army soldier for allegedly leveraging insider knowledge regarding a military operation to apprehend Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, resulting in a $400,000 profit on Polymarket.
According to court documents, Spagnuolo placed wagers exceeding $2.7 million concerning Google's 2025 Year in Search marketing initiative, during which Google discloses the year's most popular search queries. He is accused of accessing confidential internal data regarding the most-searched celebrities to guide his betting decisions.
"Polymarket cooperated closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the CFTC, and is the sole prediction platform to date whose collaboration has resulted in insider trading charges in the United States," a spokesperson for Polymarket informed TechCrunch. "Blockchain trading is transparent and traceable; therefore, those who engage in misconduct leave a digital fingerprint. We are dedicated to ensuring accurate, fair, and transparent markets, as well as enforcing our regulations while collaborating with regulators and law enforcement."
In response to the situation, a Google spokesperson stated that the company is cooperating with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.
"The employee accessed our marketing materials via a tool available to all staff, but the utilization of such confidential information for betting activities constitutes a severe violation of our policies," Google noted in an emailed statement. "We have placed the employee on leave and will implement appropriate actions moving forward."
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