Trending Now - Google Engineer Charged in $1M Insider Trading Scandal

WHO:

Wired - Michele Spagnuolo, a Google security engineer, is involved in the case.

ABC News - Spagnuolo is 36 years old and an Italian citizen.

WHAT:

Wired - Spagnuolo made more than $1 million on the prediction market platform Polymarket using confidential information.

ABC News - Spagnuolo is charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

ABC News - Spagnuolo's account, under the name AlphaRaccoon, profited $1.2 million on bets related to Google's Year in Search 2025 results.

WHERE:

ABC News - Spagnuolo was arrested in New York.

ABC News - The federal criminal complaint was unsealed in New York.

WHEN:

ABC News - The complaint was unsealed on a Wednesday.

ABC News - Google publicly announced its Year in Search 2025 results on December 4, 2025.

ABC News - Spagnuolo was arrested on a Wednesday morning.

WHY:

ABC News - Spagnuolo misappropriated confidential and valuable nonpublic information from Google to place bets on Polymarket.

HOW:

ABC News - Spagnuolo accessed Google’s confidential, commercially valuable internal data to know the outcomes of his wagers before the trading public did.

ABC News - After winning, Spagnuolo attempted to conceal his unlawful use of nonpublic information by obscuring the source and ownership of his unlawful proceeds.

(UPDATED May 27, 2026 23:24 UTC)

Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen and Google security engineer, has been arrested in New York and is facing serious charges including commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He allegedly made over $1 million on the prediction market platform Polymarket by misappropriating confidential information from Google, profiting $1.2 million on bets related to Google's Year in Search 2025 results, which will be publicly announced on December 4, 2025. Following his arrest, Spagnuolo reportedly tried to hide his illegal gains by obscuring the source and ownership of his winnings.