Google Employee Made Millions By Sharing ‘Google Confidential’ Information On Prediction Market Polymarket

28th May 2026 at 1:15 PM

1 minute read

New York : Software engineer working in Google has now been charged for insider trading. The US prosecutors have charged Michele Spangnuolo, software engineer at Google with insider trading after he allegedly used the company’s confidential information to make more than n $1.2 million in profits on the prediction market platform Polymarket.

Spagnuolo traded under the alias “AlphaRaccoon”. Between October and December 2025, he allegedly accessed Google’s internal data systems marked “Google Confidential” and placed bets on Polymarket tied to Google’s business outcomes. Spangnuolo, who resides in Switzerland, faces charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. US Attorney Jay Clayton said, “Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets.

Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted. FBI Assistant Director James C. Barnacle Jr. added: “Spagnuolo allegedly abused his elevated access to confidential trends to place bets with nonpublic information and receive more than one million dollars in unlawful profits. The court fillings also state that Spagnuolo had access to Google’s internal software tools that displayed sensitive data under a “Google Confidential” banner.

The court papers said Spagnuolo’s most lucrative alleged Polymarket wins were correctly predicting who would and would not be the most searched for person on Google in 2025. He allegedly placed bets against names, like Bianca Censori and President Donald Trump, and chose the singer D4vd as taking the top spot when the betting platform had odds of that result being near zero.

He started using Polymarket in 2024, and between October and December of last year, the US Attorney’s office said Spagnuolo placed $2.7m in bets related to Google. By using internal information, he was able to make more than $1m in profits from those bets, it said. The court papers said Spagnuolo’s most lucrative alleged Polymarket wins were correctly predicting who would and would not be the most searched for person on Google in 2025.