Prosecutors in New York have charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo after alleging he used confidential corporate data to place profitable bets on the Ethereum-based prediction market Polymarket. The case centers on claims that Spagnuolo accessed an internal Google tool with nonpublic information on the company’s Year in Search rankings for 2025.
Investigators say he used that advance knowledge to place at least 16 trades on Polymarket between October and December 2025, ultimately making more than $1.2 million before the information was public. Spagnuolo, allegedly using the alias AlphaRaccoon, is facing federal charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a parallel civil complaint the same day.
Prosecutors say the allegation is not about general market speculation, but about the use of privileged corporate data to trade event contracts tied to Google’s own search rankings. Google says it is cooperating with law enforcement, and the case now turns on the reported charges and complaints filed by federal prosecutors and the CFTC.