Federal authorities have filed charges against a Google software engineer accused of exploiting confidential company data to place lucrative wagers on a prediction betting platform, according to court documents made public Wednesday.
Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen, is accused of leveraging inside knowledge to wager on Google’s annual most-searched rankings through Polymarket, generating $1.2 million in winnings, prosecutors allege.
Court filings indicate Spagnuolo placed bets on unlikely candidates such as indie pop artist D4vd, who gained massive search traffic following his arrest in connection with a teenage girl’s murder. D4vd ultimately became the year’s most-searched individual when Google released its statistics on December 4, but Spagnuolo had allegedly placed his wager on November 27 using confidential data.
The D4vd bet proved especially lucrative since betting markets assigned virtually no chance that the musician would top Google’s search rankings, according to prosecutors.
Using the username “AlphaRaccoon,” Spagnuolo also allegedly exploited insider data for additional wagers tied to Google’s search statistics. In October, he bet on rapper Kendrick Lamar topping the most-searched list, at a time when Google’s internal metrics showed Lamar leading in search volume.
Spagnuolo resides in Switzerland, according to the federal complaint filed in Manhattan court. Reuters was unable to immediately locate legal representation for the defendant.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton stated that prosecutors will aggressively pursue corporate employees who exploit confidential business data for betting market profits.
“Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted,” Clayton said.
Google confirmed it is cooperating with law enforcement and emphasized that using confidential information for betting purposes violates company policy. A Google spokesperson said Spagnuolo has been suspended pending the investigation.
This case follows April charges against a U.S. Army soldier accused of using classified intelligence to place Polymarket bets regarding the potential capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
