US federal prosecutors have charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with fraud for allegedly using insider information to win over $1.2 million in bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket. The 36-year-old Italian citizen resides in Switzerland.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, Spagnuolo used an account named “AlphaRaccoon” to place trades on markets linked to the results of Google’s 2025 Year in Search. The total sum of bets was approximately $2.75 million.

Prosecutors allege that Spagnuolo correctly predicted that indie pop musician d4vd would top the list of most-searched person hours after accessing confidential data at Google. He faces charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton stated: “Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets. Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets.”

Google said it is working with law enforcement and that using confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of company policy. Spagnuolo has been placed on leave.

A Polymarket spokesperson said the company worked closely with the US Attorney’s Office and that the firm “is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States.”

Last month, a US soldier was charged with using classified military information to bet on Polymarket regarding the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, winning over $400,000.

Source: www.aljazeera.com