Google employee charged with $1M Polymarket insider trading bet on search term
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- Michele Spagnuolo is charged with money laundering, commodities fraud, and wire fraud for using Google’s confidential Year‑in‑Search data to place $1.2 million bets on Polymarket.
- Polymarket identified the suspicious “AlphaRaccoon” account, linked to Spagnuolo, and cooperated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the CFTC to bring insider‑trading charges.
- Google placed Spagnuolo on leave, said the breach violated its policies, and is cooperating with law‑enforcement investigations.
- CFTC filed a civil complaint alleging that Spagnuolo misappropriated non‑public search data to profit from multiple contracts, including “Will Zohran Mamdani rank in the Top 5 most searched” and “Will Squid Game be the #1 searched TV show.”
- ABC News first reported the unsealed complaint and Spagnuolo’s arrest in New York, noting his $2.25 million bond.
Why it matters: Google faces heightened regulatory scrutiny and potential fines after an insider profited $1.2 M from its proprietary search data, prompting stricter data‑access controls that could slow AI product rollouts and erode market trust.
