Google employee arrested for profiting $1.2M using company secrets
What's the story
A Google employee has been arrested for allegedly using insider information to win big on the prediction platform Polymarket. Michele Spagnuolo, a Google engineer, is facing charges of violating insider trading laws over multiple bets he placed through the platform. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the charges against him on Wednesday.
Details
Spagnuolo placed bets earning him $1.2 million in winnings
Despite being an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland, Spagnuolo was arrested and presented before a federal judge in New York. He allegedly used his early access to information through his work at Google to place bets that earned him $1.2 million in winnings. A Google spokesperson confirmed the company is "working with law enforcement on their investigation" and has placed the employee on leave pending further action.
Accusations
Google and Polymarket's response to the incident
The internal information allegedly used by Spagnuolo was confidential marketing material accessed "using a tool available to all employees." However, the Google spokesperson clarified that "using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies." The Polymarket platform also confirmed it had "worked closely" with authorities on the investigation into Spagnuolo's activities.
Investigation
How the FBI linked Spagnuolo to his bets
The US Attorney's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) worked together on Spagnuolo's arrest. Even though he traded under the name AlphaRaccoon on Polymarket and made bets with cryptocurrency from different accounts, the FBI was able to link his accounts by finding one opened with an Italian ID card. This led them back to Spagnuolo, who had worked at Google for over 12 years as an information security engineer.
Betting history
Bets placed by Spagnuolo on Polymarket
Spagnuolo started using Polymarket in 2024 and between October and December last year, he placed $2.7 million in bets related to Google. He made over $1 million in profits from those bets by using internal information. His most profitable alleged wins were correctly predicting who would be the most searched person on Google in 2025, among other things.