A Google information security engineer has been charged with using internal data to make $1.2 million in profits on the prediction market platform Polymarket, according to the US Attorney’s office. The worker. Identified as Lorenzo Spagnuolo. Allegedly placed $2.7 million in bets related to Google between October and December of last year.

Details of the Alleged Scheme

Spagnuolo reportedly used an account named AlphaRaccoon to place bets on Polymarket, which he funded with cryptocurrency from several accounts — the FBI linked the accounts by finding one Spagnuolo had opened with an Italian identification card, according to ABC News.

The court papers revealed that Spagnuolo’s most lucrative bets involved predicting who would be the most searched person on Google in 2025, and he allegedly placed bets against names such as Bianca Censori and President Donald Trump, and correctly predicted that singer D4vd would top the list. At the time of his bet. The platform had assigned near-zero odds to D4vd achieving that position.

Spagnuolo placed the bet in November, knowing that D4vd had already become Google’s most-searched person based on internal data that had not yet been publicly released. After Google announced its Year in Search 2025 results on December 4, 2025, Spagnuolo’s AlphaRaccoon account profited $1.2 million, according to federal prosecutors.

Legal and Company Response

Spagnuolo was arrested in New York on Wednesday and appeared briefly before a federal magistrate judge. He did not enter a plea and was released on a $2.25 million bond, secured by $1 million cash. A $50,000 portion of the bond was required to be posted by Wednesday.

In response to the charges, a Google spokesperson stated, “We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation. 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. We’ve placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action.”

Spagnuolo, who worked for Google for over 12 years, did not respond to an email seeking comment. According to online profiles, he focused on information security during his tenure at the company.

Context and Previous Cases

This is the second case involving Polymarket that the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has brought this year. A U.S. special forces soldier, Gannon Van Dyke, pleaded not guilty last month to making fraudulent bets on Polymarket about the raid that ousted Nicholas Maduro from Venezuela.

Spagnuolo’s alleged actions have drawn attention due to the high-profile nature of the platform and the use of internal data. The FBI worked alongside the US Attorney’s office on his arrest, highlighting the seriousness of the case and the enforcement of insider trading laws in the digital economy.