The US Department of Justice has charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo domestic tradealleged that the employee traded $1.2 million on Polymarket based on confidential business information.
Spagnuolo, who goes by the name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, has been at Google for more than 12 years, according to LinkedIn.
“As alleged, Spagnuolo breached his duties to his employer and used Google’s confidential business information to obtain more than $1.2 million in profits from trading on Polymarket,” said Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a press release. “Insider trading undermines the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven behavior investigated and prosecuted.”
Prediction markets like Polymarket, Kalshi and others allow users to bet on almost anything. Insider trading is not allowed on these platforms because it is illegal, but some users still commit crimes. Recently, the Ministry of Justice He accused the US Army soldier He allegedly made $400,000 on Polymarket by using his inside information on a US military operation to take down Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to the complaint, Spagnuolo risked more than $2.7 million in Google-related bets In Search of 2025Marketing campaign in which Google reveals the most popular searches of the year in the world. Spagnuolo allegedly accessed confidential, internal Google Search data about the most searched celebrities to inform his bets.
“Polymarket has cooperated closely with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the CFTC, and to date is the only prediction platform whose cooperation has resulted in insider trading charges in the US,” a Polymarket spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Blockchain trading is transparent, traceable, and bad actors leave a trail. We are committed to maintaining accurate, fair and transparent markets, as well as enforcing our rules and working with our regulators and law enforcement.”
A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company is working with law enforcement on the investigation.
“An employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to make a bet is a serious violation of our policies,” Google said in an emailed statement. “We have placed the employee on leave and will take appropriate action.”
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