Google engineer charged with making $1.2 million through Polymarket

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading. Reports indicate the employee used confidential company data to profit $1.2 million on the Polymarket prediction platform. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reports .

According to LinkedIn, Spagnuolo worked at Google for over 12 years and traded on the Polymarket platform under the pseudonym "AlphaRaccoon." U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton stated that Spagnuolo violated his duties to his employer by using internal information for illicit gain.

According to the indictment, the engineer placed over $2.7 million in bets related to Google's "2025 Year in Search" marketing campaign. He obtained confidential information about the most searched celebrities on Google Search and placed winning bets based on this data.

A Polymarket spokesperson told TechCrunch that because blockchain technology is transparent and traceable, offenders leave a trail. The platform stated it has been cooperating closely with law enforcement on this case.

Google also issued a statement on the matter, noting that the employee used marketing tools available to all staff, but that using confidential information for betting is against company policy. The engineer has been suspended and is facing appropriate measures.