The statement accompanied the public unsealing of criminal charges against Michele Spagnuolo, a 36‑year‑old Italian citizen living in Switzerland and a long‑time Google security engineer, whom federal prosecutors say used confidential Google search‑trend data to place profitable bets on the prediction marketplace Polymarket. The Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission moved in tandem: criminal counts filed in New York and a civil complaint from the CFTC were both made public Wednesday.
Charges against Michele Spagnuolo
Federal prosecutors arrested Spagnuolo in New York and charged him with violating the Commodity Exchange Act, wire fraud and money laundering. Those charges together carry a combined maximum sentence of up to 50 years in prison, according to the Justice Department. Separately, the CFTC’s civil complaint accuses him of insider trading and seeks restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations.
Prosecutors allege Spagnuolo placed a series of trades on Polymarket that ultimately produced more than $1.2 million in profit. He was also served with the CFTC complaint and has been placed on leave by Google. Spagnuolo did not respond to a request for comment, the reporting notes.
How Google’s Year in Search data and an internal tool are described in the complaint
The complaint alleges Spagnuolo abused internal access to Google's nonpublic "Year in Search" data and used that information to place bets on the most‑searched people on Google in 2025. Prosecutors say he accessed marketing material through an internal Google software tool that bore a red "Google Confidential" banner and that he confirmed he understood Google’s confidentiality and ethics policies in order to access the data.
A Google spokesperson told reporters the employee "accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies." Google said it is cooperating with law enforcement, has placed the employee on leave, and will take appropriate action. Spagnuolo’s company biography — which said he had worked at Google since 2014 building products, specifications and leading projects in the information security unit — has been taken down, the reporting says.
Polymarket trades, AlphaRaccoon, and cryptocurrency tracing
According to the unsealed complaint, Spagnuolo opened a Polymarket account in May 2024 under the username "AlphaRaccoon" and made numerous trades later that year. Prosecutors say he risked roughly $2.75 million across 25 outcomes that the market treated as unlikely, and that those positions paid off after Google released its Year in Search results, yielding more than $1.2 million in profit.
The FBI traced the Polymarket account to a cryptocurrency wallet allegedly used to fund the account and to initiate multiple transfers. Prosecutors further allege Spagnuolo routed several transactions through a cryptocurrency swapping service; some of the swapped funds were received by an account in his name that was linked to his Italian government ID card. The complaint also alleges deliberate steps to conceal the use of nonpublic information and to obscure the source and ownership of proceeds.
After Google's Year in Search release and speculation on Discord and X about a possible Google insider, the complaint says Spagnuolo changed his Polymarket username to an alphanumeric wallet address in early December.
Regulatory and enforcement posture: DOJ prosecution and the CFTC civil action
The parallel actions by the U.S. attorney’s office and the CFTC illustrate simultaneous criminal and civil avenues in the government’s response. The Justice Department brought traditional criminal counts — the Commodity Exchange Act violation, wire fraud and money laundering — while the CFTC’s civil complaint seeks financial remedies and industry‑level restrictions such as trading and registration bans and a permanent injunction.
Jay Clayton’s quoted statement framed the case as an enforcement of the longstanding principle against corporate insiders using confidential information to profit in markets, language the government used to justify both the criminal prosecution and the civil remedies sought by the CFTC.
What this means for Google, regulators, and prediction‑market users
- Google: The company has acknowledged the access to internal marketing material and placed the employee on leave; the case will likely prompt scrutiny of how confidential materials are marked, who can access them, and how those access controls are audited — all matters mentioned directly in the complaint and Google’s statement.
- Regulators: The Justice Department’s criminal indictment and the CFTC’s civil complaint demonstrate concurrent tools available to authorities — criminal prosecution and financial remedies including trading and registration bans — which the government is now using against alleged misuse of company data to trade on prediction markets.
- Polymarket users and crypto markets: The complaint details cryptocurrency wallet tracing, swapping services, and identity linkage to an Italian government ID, showing that law enforcement investigation can follow on‑ramps and off‑ramps between crypto instruments and identified accounts.
The case hinges on the allegation that confidential internal search‑trend data — clearly labelled "Google Confidential" in the internal tool, according to prosecutors — was converted into a calculated trading strategy that returned seven figures. The complaint is now public, Google says it is cooperating with investigators, Spagnuolo has been placed on leave, and both criminal and civil proceedings are underway. How Google changes internal controls, how the platforms and markets respond, and what penalties the courts and the CFTC ultimately impose remain matters for the coming legal process.
