Google engineer indicted by U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly using insider information to profit $1.2 million on Polymarket

: The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo for allegedly exploiting confidential internal Google information to trade on prediction markets via Polymarket, illegally profiting approximately $1.2 million.According to the indictment, Spagnuolo, operating under the account name "AlphaRaccoon" on Polymarket, placed bets totaling over $2.7 million related to Google's "Year in Search 2025" rankings. He is suspected of obtaining advance access to Google's internal data on the most searched personalities to guide his trading decisions.U.S. prosecutors stated that his actions allegedly violated his fiduciary duties to his employer and constitute insider trading. Google confirmed that the employee has been suspended and is cooperating with law enforcement authorities. Polymarket stated that it has cooperated with U.S. prosecutors and the CFTC, noting that blockchain transactions are transparent and traceable. (TechCrunch)