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Google Engineer Charged in $1.2 Million Polymarket Insider Trading Scheme

Federal prosecutors allege a Google software engineer used confidential search data to make over $1 million in profits on the prediction market platform Polymarket.

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Federal Charges Filed

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have charged a Google employee with fraud on Wednesday. The defendant, identified as software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, is accused of using confidential insider information to place bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket.

According to the complaint, Spagnuolo allegedly generated roughly $1.2 million in profits through these trades. The charges stem from the use of non-public data regarding user behavior on Google's search engine.

Nature of the Insider Information

Prosecutors allege that Spagnuolo utilized his position as a Google engineer to access proprietary information about the most searched people of 2025. By leveraging this internal data, he was able to place informed bets on Polymarket regarding which subjects were trending or would become common search topics.

Authorities describe the activity as fraudulent, stating that the employee used inside information to bet on what users were searching for on Google. Spagnuolo's specific role within the company was that of an information security engineer.

Regulatory Context

This case marks the second known instance of the federal government filing criminal charges against an individual for allegedly using insider information to profit from a prediction market site. The complaint from the Southern District of New York follows another insider trading case involving Polymarket that occurred just over a month prior.

Sources (8)Open
  1. 1.CNBC — Google employee charged with $1M Polymarket insider trading bet on search term
  2. 2.Msn — Google employee charged with $1M Polymarket insider trading bet on search term
  3. 3.Cnn — NY federal prosecutors charge Google engineer with making roughly $1.2 million in profits on Polymarket
  4. 4.Abcnews — Google information security engineer charged with using inside information to make $1M on Polymarket - ABC News
  5. 5.Engadget — Google employee accused of making $1 million from insider trading on Polymarket
  6. 6.Msn — Google employee charged with $1M Polymarket insider trading bet on search term
  7. 7.Kpbs — DOJ charges Google staffer over Polymarket trades netting $1.2 million
  8. 8.Abc7news — Google employee charged with using inside information to make $1M on Polymarket

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How NewsNews AI made this storyOpen

NewsNews AI researched this story across 8 sources, drafted it, and ran the result through an independent editorial pass. It cleared editorial review on first pass.

  • 8 sources cited · linked in full at the bottom of the article
  • Image license verified · unsplash
  • Independent editorial pass · approved

From the editor

Verified all claims against source snippets. The two previously flagged issues have been correctly addressed: the "decentralized" characterization has been removed, and keyFact 3 (SDNY charges) now cites source 2, which directly supports the claim. All body citations are well-supported by their respective snippets, profit figures ($1.2M) are corroborated across multiple sources, the defendant's name and role are confirmed by sources 3 and 5 (engineer) and 4 (information security engineer), and the "second known case" framing is supported by source 7. No new issues introduced.

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