Google Employee Charged Over $1.2m Polymarket ‘Year in Search’ Trading Scheme
Federal authorities allege a Google software engineer used confidential “Year in Search” data to generate more than $1.2 million trading Polymarket event contracts.
Federal authorities have charged a Google software engineer with insider trading for allegedly using confidential company data to profit more than $1.2 million trading prediction market contracts tied to Google’s “Year in Search” list on Polymarket.
On Wednesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil complaint against Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York separately unsealed criminal charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
The CFTC alleged Spagnuolo, under the alias “AlphaRaccoon,” purchased shares on at least 23 Google-related Polymarket contracts “with near-perfect accuracy.”
Federal authorities alleged the trading activity generated approximately $1.2 million in profits.
Google Employee Allegedly Used Confidential Search Data
According to the complaints, Spagnuolo worked as a software engineer at Google. He had access to internal Google tools containing nonpublic 2025 Year in Search List data bearing a “Google Confidential” label.
Prosecutors alleged that Google treated the information as commercially sensitive because the annual rankings drive advertising engagement, media attention, and user traffic connected to the company’s search platform.
Among the contracts referenced by authorities were markets involving Kendrick Lamar, Pope Leo XIV, Bianca Censori, Jimmy Kimmel, and d4vd.
Prosecutors alleged the “AlphaRaccoon” account risked approximately $2.75 million across Google-related contracts between October and December 2025. Those included positions the market viewed as highly unlikely.
According to the criminal complaint, FBI investigators concluded that the market assigned to d4vd becoming Google’s most-searched person had a ‘near-zero probability.’
The complaints also allege investigators traced cryptocurrency transfers connected to the “AlphaRaccoon” account across multiple wallets and services before linking the activity to Spagnuolo.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said:
Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets.”
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig stated:
As I have said repeatedly, the Commission will not tolerate fraud, manipulation, or insider trading, regardless of the technology or platform that is used.”
“AlphaRaccoon” Trades Had Already Drawn Public Attention
The “AlphaRaccoon” account had already attracted attention within prediction market communities before the charges became public.
Following the charges, Polymarket stated on X:
Proud to announce Polymarket’s market integrity infrastructure flagged another trader who was arrested this morning in New York for insider trading.”
In one of the comments, Polywhaler, an account that tracks large Polymarket wallets and trading activity, stated that it had flagged the account roughly six months earlier due to its unusually successful Google-related trades.
The account wrote:
We flagged the recently arrested Google insider trader 6 months ago, while everyone else missed it.”
Screenshots shared by Polywhaler showed the account posting a reported 100% win rate across resolved trades while generating more than $1.3 million in profit.
The largest reported positions included approximately $474,360 in profits tied to a market on whether Pope Leo XIV would be Google’s most-searched person of the year, roughly $193,127 tied to d4vd-related contracts, and approximately $165,943 linked to markets related to Bianca Censori.
Spagnuolo also held profitable positions in markets related to Donald Trump, Kendrick Lamar, Jimmy Kimmel, Luigi Mangione, and Tyler Robinson.
Second Insider Trading-Related Case Connected to Polymarket
The Spagnuolo case is the second major insider trading-related case connected to Polymarket.
Earlier in 2026, federal prosecutors charged a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, with allegedly using nonpublic information related to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to profit from prediction market trades.
According to prosecutors, Van Dyke allegedly had direct involvement in planning the Maduro operation and had access to confidential information before placing trades related to those events.
Authorities allege that Van Dyke profited more than $400,000 by wagering on contracts related to Maduro events.
Kalshi Has Also Investigated Insider Trading-Related Activity
Polymarket is not the only prediction market platform to face insider trading-related issues.
In February, Kalshi disclosed that it had closed two insider trading cases and referred both matters to the CFTC.
One case involved former California gubernatorial candidate Kyle Langford, who stated on X in May 2025 that he had wagered on himself. Another involved Artem Kaptur, an editor working on content for YouTube creator MrBeast, who traded on MrBeast-related markets.
In April, Kalshi published three additional enforcement notices tied to political candidates who traded on markets linked to their own elections.
One of those candidates, Mark Moran, who ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Virginia, said on social media that he wanted to get caught. He said he placed the bets to expose what he describes as systemic conflicts of interest and manipulation across prediction market platforms.
The incidents have become part of the wider integrity debate surrounding prediction markets.
The allegations against Spagnuolo remain accusations, and he has not been convicted of any offense.
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