Overview
- Federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges on Wednesday accusing Michele Spagnuolo of commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly using nonpublic Google search-trend data to profit about $1.2 million on Polymarket.
- Prosecutors say Spagnuolo placed dozens of bets under the username AlphaRaccoon between October and December 2025 and used an internal Google tool that showed evolving ‘Year in Search 2025’ trends before the public release.
- Google confirmed the employee had access to the internal marketing tool, said it is cooperating with investigators and placed Spagnuolo on leave after his arrest and release on a $2.25 million bond.
- The complaint alleges Spagnuolo tried to hide proceeds by routing crypto through swapping and privacy services and that Polymarket’s market-integrity systems flagged the account and referred it to authorities.
- The CFTC filed a civil complaint seeking penalties and trading bans and Congress and regulators are pressing platforms and lawmakers to tighten rules for prediction markets where company insiders can see decisive data.