Google employee charged with using insider data to rig bets on Polymarket

US DoJ alleges software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, 36, earned $1.2m betting on Google’s most-searched list The US justice department has charged a Google software engineer with using insider information to rig bets tied to Google’s most-searched list on prediction market Polymarket, earning $1.2m in profits, according to a complaint unsealed on...

1. Frame 1New York prosecutors allege in federal court that Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo used confidential search data for prediction-market bets.
2. Frame 2The complaint says internal Google trend data showed who would top the 2025 most-searched list.
3. Frame 3Prosecutors allege he bet before public release, turning near-zero markets into about $1.2 million.
4. Frame 4The counts include commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering tied to prediction-market wagers.
5. Frame 5Google put him on leave; Polymarket said it cooperated with authorities tracking blockchain trades.
6. Frame 6Next test: court proof, a CFTC civil suit, and whether prediction markets police insider data.