A Google employee faces civil action by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for allegedly using confidential information to make more than $1 million in profit on Polymarket.
The CFTC filed the suit against Michele Spagnuolo late Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the complaint, Spagnuolo used confidential information he accessed as a Google employee to compile a nearly perfect record trading on 2025 Year in Search markets between October and December of that year.
Trading on at least 23 separate markets, Spagnuolo used the handle “AlphaRaccoon” to amass $1.2 million in profits on Polymarket. He later changed his name in December following news reports of questionable trades by AlphaRaccoon.
The CFTC wants to bar Spagnuolo from future participation in its markets, as well as seeking restitution and civil penalties against the Italian citizen and Swiss resident.
In a statement provided to ABC News, a Google spokesperson said: “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.”
Google searches in question
Federal regulators allege Spagnuolo had access to confidential information for nearly six weeks beginning October 15. He used it to place ‘yes’ and ‘no’ trades on Polymarket on search markets involving political, entertainment and cultural figures including:
- Will Pope Leo XIV be the #1 searched person
- Will d4vd be the #1 searched person
- Will Bianca Censori be the #1 searched person
- Will Donald Trump rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Zohran Mamdani rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Donald Trump be the #1 searched person
- Will Kendrick Lamar rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Kendrick Lamar be the #1 most searched
- Will Bianca Censori rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Jimmy Kimmel rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Pope Leo XIV rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will d4vd rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Sydney Sweeney be the #1 searched actor
- Will Tyler Robinson rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Sydney Sweeney be the #1 searched actor
- Will Charlie Kirk be #1 searched passing
- Will Luigi Mangione rank in Top 5 most searched
- Will Elon Musk rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Zohran Mamdani be the #2 searched person
- Will Taylor Swift rank in the Top 5 most searched
- Will Zohran Mamdani be the #1 searched person
- Will Squid Game be the #1 searched TV show
- Will Andy Byron rank in the Top 5 most searched
“Employees who are entrusted with confidential business information cannot misappropriate that information for personal financial gain,” said CFTC Director of Enforcement David I. Miller in a news release. “As this and other enforcement actions show, the Division is a cop on the beat in policing the illegal use of inside information in the prediction markets and other markets within the CFTC’s jurisdiction. We will continue to take action to protect markets from insider trading and other forms of fraud, abuse, and manipulation.”
Second major CFTC action this year
The action against Spagnuolo closely follows an April complaint filed by the CFTC against an Army soldier for using classified military information to make more than $400,000 in profits trading on Polymarket.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly utilized highly classified knowledge about operations involving Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife to place trades leading to hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings.
In addition to civil penalties, Van Dyke faces up to 60 years in prison on criminal charges for wire fraud, making an unlawful monetary transaction and three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).
Polymarket jabs at rival on social media
After the revelations of more than $1.6 million in ill-gotten gains achieved through its platform by Spagnuolo and Van Dyke, Polymarket appeared to poke at rival Kalshi and possibly others as well on social media:
As of Thursday afternoon, the tweet remained pinned to the top of Polymarket’s profile on Twitter/X.
