Google Engineer Accused of Using Confidential Search Data to Win $1.2 Million in Online Bets

A Google engineer is facing federal fraud charges after prosecutors alleged he used confidential company data to place a series of highly profitable online wagers, earning more than $1.2 million by betting on the outcome of Google’s annual Year in Search rankings before the information became public.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, Michele Spagnuolo, a Google employee based in Switzerland, allegedly accessed internal search trend data and used it to make a string of remarkably accurate bets on prediction market platform Polymarket.

Authorities claim the trades were based on nonpublic information regarding Google’s most-searched people of 2025 rankings, giving him a significant advantage over other participants betting on the same markets.

Federal prosecutors charged Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a parallel civil lawsuit accusing him of exploiting confidential business information for personal gain.

The case centers on Google’s closely watched Year in Search report, an annual ranking that highlights the people, events, and topics that generated the most search activity throughout the year.

Prosecutors claim that Spagnuolo gained access to internal data on Nov. 27, 2025, while working at Google, and discovered that singer D4vd had unexpectedly overtaken Kendrick Lamar as the most searched person of the year, and within hours, Spagnuolo began placing bets through a Polymarket account operating under the username “AlphaRaccoon.” One wager reportedly backed D4vd finishing among the top five most-searched people, while another predicted the singer would ultimately claim the number one position.

At the time those bets were placed, public prediction markets assigned virtually no chance to such an outcome. According to the complaint, D4vd was viewed as a massive longshot, with market participants overwhelmingly favoring other high-profile figures, including President Donald Trump, Pope Leo XIV, and Bianca Censori.

The prosecutors allege that Spagnuolo’s activity went far beyond a single successful prediction. Over a span of several weeks, he placed approximately 25 trades tied to Google’s search rankings, repeatedly wagering against outcomes that the broader market considered likely. Authorities say he bet more than $937,000 that Censori would not finish as the most-searched person of the year and more than $613,000 that Pope Leo XIV would fail to claim the top spot.

In total, prosecutors estimate that the AlphaRaccoon account risked roughly $2.75 million across a series of bets that, from an outside perspective, appeared unusually confident. Investigators argue that confidence stemmed from direct access to confidential information rather than forecasting skill or market insight.

The complaint describes the trades as displaying “near-perfect accuracy,” a pattern investigators say immediately raised red flags once the search rankings became public and the account’s profits were reviewed.

The case has also drawn attention because of the unusual circumstances surrounding D4vd’s appearance atop the rankings. The artist, whose legal name is David Burke, had dominated headlines following a high-profile criminal investigation involving the discovery of human remains inside a towed Tesla. Burke has since been charged with murder. While the case generated significant public interest, prediction markets continued to view him as an unlikely candidate to become Google’s most-searched person of the year until the rankings were officially released.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Spagnuolo allegedly violated obligations owed to his employer by exploiting confidential company information for personal financial gain. FBI officials echoed that assessment, arguing that the case demonstrates how insider access can be abused in emerging financial markets built around real-world events and data.

The prosecution also highlights growing scrutiny surrounding prediction markets such as Polymarket, which have rapidly expanded in popularity by allowing users to wager on everything from elections and sports to cultural events and entertainment rankings. While the platforms market themselves as forecasting tools, regulators have increasingly focused on how access to nonpublic information could distort those markets in ways similar to insider trading in traditional finance.

Spagnuolo, 36, was listed in federal custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center following the unsealing of the charges.