Google engineer made $1.2M by placing bets on Polymarket using confidential info, prosecutors allege
NBC News • • general
Key Points:
- Michele Spagnulo, a Google software engineer, is charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering for allegedly using confidential Google search data to make over $1.2 million in bets on Polymarket.
- Prosecutors claim Spagnulo placed wagers from October to December based on internal data, including a successful bet that a singer accused of murder would be Google’s most-searched person in 2025, despite the market assigning near-zero probability to this outcome.
- Spagnulo reportedly tried to conceal his illegal gains by obscuring the source and ownership of the proceeds, leading to his placement on leave by Google, which is cooperating with law enforcement.
- Polymarket emphasized its commitment to fair and transparent markets and noted it is the only prediction platform whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the U.S.
- This case follows a similar April arrest of a U.S. Special Forces soldier accused of using classified information for Polymarket bets, highlighting ongoing concerns about insider trading on prediction markets.