Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen working as a Google software and security engineer based in Zurich since 2014, was charged with insider trading on May 28, 2026, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York [1, 2].
Spagnuolo allegedly used confidential internal Google information to place bets on the prediction market Polymarket, earning over $1.2 million in profits from approximately $2.75 million in bets mostly placed between October and December 2025 [1, 3, 4, 2]. Operating under the username "AlphaRaccoon," he made one notable successful wager predicting that indie pop musician D4vd would be the top most-searched person on Google in 2025, placing a $381.12 "yes" bet and a $5 bet on him being #1 shortly after accessing sensitive data [1, 3, 2].
Spagnuolo also placed large bets against Pope Leo and former U.S. President Donald Trump being the top-searched individual [2]. FBI agent Brandon Racz said, "Unlike the counterparties to his trades, Spagnuolo knew the outcome of these wagers before the trading public did because he had accessed Google’s confidential, commercially valuable internal data" [3].
He faces charges including commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering [1, 3, 4, 2]. Spagnuolo appeared in court in New York on May 27 and was released on a $2.2 million bond with travel restrictions [2].
Google confirmed it placed Spagnuolo on leave, stating, "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" [3]. A Google spokesperson said the company is cooperating with law enforcement [3].
Polymarket said it cooperated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation, adding, "We are committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets as well as enforcing our rules and working with our regulators and law enforcement" [1]. Polymarket runs a legal U.S. platform and a larger offshore crypto-based version blocked in the U.S. [3].
This is one of the first known U.S. arrests involving insider trading on prediction markets. A prior case involved a U.S. Army officer betting on Nicolás Maduro's capture [1, 3]. Lawmakers have since launched investigations and proposed legislation to regulate or ban platforms like Polymarket [3, 4].
Spagnuolo created the Polymarket account "AlphaRaccoon" in 2024 and worked on infrastructure for AI agents at Alphabet, according to his LinkedIn profile [4].
The next immediate step in the case is related court proceedings to address the serious charges Spagnuolo faces for exploiting inside information for financial gain.
