Google Engineer Michele Spagnuolo Charged by US DOJ Over $1.2M Polymarket Bets

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted Google security engineer Michele Spagnuolo, alleging he used confidential, non‑public Google data to place bets on the prediction‑market platform Polymarket. Prosecutors say he operated under the alias “AlphaRaccoon,” wagered about $2.7 million on 25 market outcomes, and earned roughly $1.2 million in profit.

Charges include commodities fraud, wire fraud and money‑laundering. The alleged misconduct involved accessing internal Google tools that revealed the results of the “Year in Search 2025” report before publication, giving him an unfair advantage in binary‑option style bets. Spagnuolo was released on a $2.25 million bail, and Google has suspended him pending the investigation.