A long-time Google software engineer has been formally charged by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly engaging in insider trading on the prediction platform Polymarket. The employee, identified as Michele Spagnuolo, is accused of leveraging confidential internal data to secure over $1.2 million in illicit profits. Spagnuolo, who reportedly operated under the pseudonym “AlphaRaccoon,” had been with the tech giant for more than a decade before the scheme was uncovered.

Prosecutors allege that Spagnuolo utilized his access to proprietary information regarding Google’s “Year in Search” marketing campaign to place high-stakes wagers. By accessing internal data detailing the world’s most popular search queries before they were made public, the engineer was able to manipulate his betting strategy, risking more than $2.7 million in the process. Authorities emphasized that such conduct undermines the integrity of prediction markets and constitutes a clear violation of both corporate policy and federal law.

In response to the charges, Google confirmed that it has placed the employee on leave and is cooperating fully with law enforcement. The company noted that while the tools used to access the marketing data were available to staff for legitimate business purposes, the exploitation of that information for personal financial gain represents a severe breach of professional conduct. Polymarket has also stated that it is working alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the CFTC, highlighting that the transparent nature of blockchain transactions makes it difficult for bad actors to conceal their activities.