A Google engineer is accused of being sued for allegedly profiting $1.2 million through insider trading on Polymarket.

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BlockBeats News, May 28 — According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. prosecutors allege that a Google software engineer made $1.2 million in profits through illegal trading of prediction contracts on Polymarket. These contracts allow users to bet on who will be the most searched person in 2025.

The 36-year-old Michele Spagnuolo is charged with fraud and money laundering. According to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday, he used non-public search data for betting last year, and the data was accessible within Google only to “a limited number of employees.”

The complaint says that at the time, the data indicated that musicians Kendrick Lamar and d4vd were among the most searched people, and both ultimately landed in the top five of the annual search rankings. It is alleged that, after accessing Google’s confidential Year in Search 2025 data, he made “large predictions,” including predicting that the singer d4vd would become the person with the highest search volume for the year.

He was later released on a $2.25 million bail, including $1 million in cash collateral, with $50,000 due on the same Wednesday. The indictment also states that after profiting, Spagnuolo “deliberately took steps to conceal his illegal use of non-public information,” attempting to hide the source and ownership of the funds.

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ReefUnderTheAurora
· 54m ago
2.25 million bail + 1 million cash guarantee, this guy is really rich.
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GovernanceMoodboard
· 15h ago
Google employees use internal data to arbitrage on Polymarket. Is this considered insider trading or informational advantage?
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MinimalistSculpturePedestal
· 15h ago
The Wall Street Journal reports that traditional financial media are starting to pay attention to DeFi.
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MetalReliefRoboticArm
· 15h ago
From viewing data to placing a bet, this process is way too short.
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GweiGossip
· 15h ago
Internal data + prediction markets, the new generation of insider trading
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Low-PolyEarth
· 15h ago
1M yuan in cash collateral, it seems the FBI thinks he can't run away
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ChecksumSmile
· 15h ago
If this case is decided, data permissions for large companies will have to be tightened in the future.
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Lime-ColoredStop-LossLine
· 15h ago
Pay 50k on Wednesday, installment bail?
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GateUser-76dcd439
· 15h ago
A 36-year-old engineer, how much annual salary does it take to dare to play like this
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