Google employee charged after allegedly making $1.2 million on Polymarket with secret data

A Google software engineer who allegedly used the handle "AlphaRaccoon" on Polymarket is facing insider trading charges after prosecutors said he turned confidential search data into about $1.2 million in profits.

What happened?

According to the U.S. Justice Department, as first reported by TechCrunch, Michele Spagnuolo — a Google employee who reportedly spent more than 12 years at the company — used nonpublic company information to place winning trades on Polymarket.

The alleged bets were tied to Google's 2025 "Year in Search" campaign, which spotlights the year's biggest search trends. TechCrunch reported that prosecutors said he committed more than $2.7 million to those Polymarket positions.

Court filings say the trades were guided by internal Google Search data about which celebrities received the most searches. 

Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press release that "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." 

Why does it matter?

Prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi present themselves as places where users can trade on future outcomes, but those markets depend on participants having equal access to information. If insiders are secretly betting with privileged knowledge, confidence in the platform can erode quickly.

The case also adds to broader concerns about the online gambling boom.

Even when these platforms are framed as entertainment or information tools, their rapid growth has raised alarms about predatory design, nonstop advertising, financial losses, and how easy it has become to place real-time bets on nearly anything. That can mean greater exposure to risk in spaces that may feel more like social apps than gambling products.

What are people saying?

"Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets," Clayton said, adding that the public wants "this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted."

Polymarket, for its part, said it worked closely with investigators and argued that "bad actors leave footprints" on blockchain-based platforms.

Google also said it is cooperating with law enforcement, adding that while the employee used a tool available to staff, using confidential information for bets was "a serious breach of our policies."

"We've placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action," Google said in a statement.

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