U.S. prosecutors have charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, according to Fortune. Spagnuolo, an Italian national residing in Switzerland, allegedly used the alias 'AlphaRaccoon' to place bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket. He reportedly leveraged internal Google search trend data before the public release of the '2025 Search Year' data, earning over $1.2 million.
The FBI identified Spagnuolo by tracking cryptocurrency payments. Google has suspended him, stating that using confidential information for betting is a severe violation of company policy.
Spagnuolo faces charges under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act, as well as charges of wire fraud and money laundering, which could result in several years of imprisonment.