{"id":905,"date":"2026-05-28T04:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=905"},"modified":"2026-05-28T04:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:34:23","slug":"federal-prosecutors-charge-google-engineer-for-allegedly-using-insider-info-to-make-1-2-million-on-polymarket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=905","title":{"rendered":"Federal prosecutors charge Google engineer for allegedly using insider info to make $1.2 million on Polymarket"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div> <div>\n<button>\n<strong>\n<span><svg>\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<span>Summary<\/span>\n<\/strong>\n<span><svg><\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<span><svg><\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<\/button>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Federal prosecutors have charged a Google software engineer with making roughly $1.2 million by using insider information to bet on Polymarket.<\/li>\n<li>The software engineer allegedly accessed confidential Google data about the most searched people of 2025 before placing bets on the prediction market.<\/li>\n<li>Google said the software engineer has been placed on leave, and a lawyer for the man was not immediately identified on the court docket.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<span>AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Federal prosecutors in New York charged a Google software engineer with making roughly $1.2 million in profits from bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket by using confidential insider information he learned about the most searched people of 2025.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=901\">Iran\u2019s forever war: Deal or no deal, Iran\u2019s challenge to America will outlast Trump<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Michele Spagnuolo, the Google software engineer, allegedly used an account called \u201cAlphaRaccoon\u201d to place multiple \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cno\u201d bets related to who would be the most searched person on Google, according to a criminal complaint.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cUnlike the counterparties to his trades, Spagnuolo knew the outcome of these wagers before the trading public did because he had accessed Google\u2019s confidential, commercially valuable internal data,\u201d authorities allege in the complaint.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Spagnuolo is charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.  He appeared in court Wednesday and was released on a $2.2 million bond with travel restrictions.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Google said Spagunolo has been placed on leave. A lawyer for Spagunolo was not immediately identified on the court docket.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWe\u2019re working with law enforcement on their investigation. The employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies,\u201d a Google spokesperson told CNN.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<header>\n<span>\n      Related article\n    <\/span>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gannon Ken Van Dyke walks near a federal court building in New York on Tuesday.\" class=\"wp-image-904\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6b432b7880655e5336e47d35b3538ff4.jpg\" width=\"256\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Gannon Ken Van Dyke walks near a federal court building in New York on Tuesday.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Seth Wenig\/AP<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n<span>Soldier accused of betting on Maduro raid, winning $400,000, pleads not guilty<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div>3  min read<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Spagnuolo is now the second person this year to face criminal charges alleging insider trading on prediction markets.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=895\">Scientists newly identify species of tiny, blue octopus that fits in the palm of your hand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Last month the US attorney\u2019s office for the Southern District of New York announced insider trading charges against a US special forces soldier for allegedly using his knowledge of the planned military capture of Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro to place bets on Polymarket ahead of it. The solider allegedly made over $400,000 in profits. He has pleaded not guilty.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Authorities allege Spagnuolo used confidential internal Google data to place numerous bets about the most searched person.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            In one case, Spagnuolo placed a $381.12 bet \u201cyes\u201d that d4vd would rank in the most searched people of the year and $5 that d4vd would be the number one searched person on Google with an implied probability of \u201cslightly higher than 0%,\u201d according to the complaint.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Spagnuolo also bet $613,000 \u201cno\u201d that Pope Leo would be the most searched person and just over $500,000 that Donald Trump would not be the most searched person. When Google announced the most searched results, authorities allege, Spagnuolo made over $1.2 million in profits.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            CNN has a partnership with another prediction market, Kalshi, and uses its data to cover major events. Editorial employees are prohibited from participating in prediction markets.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=885\">Exclusive: Justice Department launches a criminal investigation into Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal prosecutors in New York charged a Google software engineer with making roughly $1.2 million in profits from bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket by using confidential insider information he learned about the most searched people of 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Federal prosecutors charge Google engineer for allegedly using insider info to make $1.2 million on Polymarket - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal prosecutors charge Google engineer for allegedly using insider info to make $1.2 million on Polymarket - 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