Google software engineer faces charges over Polymarket bets
US authorities have charged a Google employee with using the company's information to place a bet on Polymarket and win $1.2 million.
The Justice Department said Wednesday it has sued Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo for allegedly obtaining undisclosed inside information on Google and 25 bets worth $2.7 million related to Google's most wanted individuals in 2025.
Prosecutor Spagnuolo owns the Polymarket account “Alfaracun” and made a $1.2 million profit in December when Google released information on the most wanted individuals, “in what the market saw as unlikely results.”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a twin complaint against Spagnuolo on Wednesday, making similar allegations of insider trading.
Prediction markets are facing heightened scrutiny over insider trading, with Congress opening investigations into Polymarket and Kalshi on Friday, questioning the firms' response to insider trading cases on the platforms and raising concerns that government officials are using insider knowledge to make bets.
Manhattan U.S. District Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement that the charges “reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to profit in our markets.”
Source: US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Alfaraq has reportedly changed its brand name.
According to the court documents, communities on Discord and X began discussing whether Alfaraku was a Google expert in December. Soon, the username was allegedly changed to a wallet address.
The funds in Alfarakun's account were sent to a decentralized crypto-swapping service and relay service that provides privacy protection for blockchain transactions, prosecutors allege.
The Justice Department indicted Spagnuolo on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.
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In the complaint, the CFTC seeks restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, and trading and registration suspensions.
CFTC Enforcement Director David Miller said in a statement: “The division is a police force that polices illegal insider trading in the futures markets and other markets under the CFTC's jurisdiction.”
Source: CFTC
“We will continue to take action to protect markets from insider trading and other forms of fraud, abuse and fraud,” Miller added.
This comes after the Justice Department accused a US soldier in April of using classified information to place a bet on the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
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