A Google software engineer, Michele Spagnuolo has been charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, stemming from his scheme to misappropriate confidential information from his employer and use that information to place a series of profitable Google-related trades on a prediction market platform.  

Mr Spagnuolo, who resides in Switzerland, was presented on Wednesday before U.S. magistrate judge Sarah Netburn in the Southern District of New York.

“Michele Spagnuolo allegedly abused his elevated access to confidential trends to place bets with nonpublic information and receive more than one million dollars in unlawful profits,” said FBI assistant director in charge James Barnacle.  “The FBI remains dedicated to searching for fraudsters who betray their employer for personal financial gains.”

As alleged in the complaint unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, in connection with his role, Mr Spagnuolo had access to Google’s internal data systems, including an internal software tool that provided him with access to confidential, nonpublic data.  

That software tool bore a banner that stated, in part, “Google Confidential” in red text.  

Indeed, Mr Spagnuolo certified his understanding of various Google confidentiality and ethics policies.  

Mr Spagnuolo created an account on Polymarket, which is a prediction marketplace, in May 2024.  

That account was known as ‘AlphaRaccoon’.  

Shortly after accessing Google’s internal information, Mr Spagnuolo used the AlphaRaccoon account to place trades in various markets on Polymarket. In total, from on or about October 15, 2025, through on or about December 4, 2025, Mr Spagnuolo used the AlphaRaccoon account to risk approximately $2,754,092 on markets related to Google’s internal information.  

Soon after Google’s information was publicly announced, and the markets resolved, Mr Spagnuolo’s AlphaRaccoon account profited approximately $1.2 million based on his use of inside information in connection with bets placed on Polymarket.

Mr Spagnuolo, 36, an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland, is charged with one count of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by U.S. Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

“Today’s (Wednesdays) charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” said U.S. attorney Jay Clayton.  “As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he owed to his employer and used Google’s confidential business information to make more than $1.2 million in trading profits on Polymarket.  Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.”