Michele Spagnuolo
Summary
Michele Spagnuolo, 36, a Staff Information Security Engineer at Google Zürich known online as 'AlphaRaccoon,' was arrested in New York on May 27, 2026, and charged by federal prosecutors with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He is alleged to have accessed nonpublic internal Google search-trend data to place highly accurate prediction-market bets on Polymarket, generating approximately $1.2 million in profits on roughly $2.75 million wagered. The charges, filed simultaneously by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), represent the second high-profile federal insider-trading prosecution arising from Polymarket activity in 2026. All allegations are unproven; Spagnuolo has not entered a plea.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigationsTimeline(6 events)
2014-01-01
Michele Spagnuolo joins Google as an information security engineer, based in Zürich, Switzerland.
Michele Spagnuolo personal website (miki.it); multiple news reports2025-10-01
Spagnuolo allegedly begins placing bets on Polymarket under the username 'AlphaRaccoon,' targeting contracts related to Google's 2025 Year in Search campaign. Prosecutors allege he accessed a confidential internal Google tool marked 'Google Confidential' containing nonpublic Year in Search data.
DOJ SDNY criminal complaint; CFTC civil complaint2025-12-04
Google publicly announces its 2025 Year in Search results. Polymarket markets begin to resolve. Spagnuolo's AlphaRaccoon account allegedly collects approximately $1.2 million in winnings.
NPR; BleepingComputer; CNBC2025-12-10
Approximately 5.045 million USDC.e allegedly transferred from the AlphaRaccoon wallet to address 0xAf6. Proceeds allegedly routed through crypto-swapping services and an Italian payment processor linked to Spagnuolo's government ID. Separately, the AlphaRaccoon username is allegedly removed from the Polymarket account after online communities speculate about insider trading.
BleepingComputer; CyberScoop2026-04-24
U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke arrested on separate Polymarket insider trading charges — the first high-profile such arrest of 2026 — for allegedly using classified military intelligence to profit approximately $400,000 on bets related to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Fortune; CNBC2026-05-27
DOJ SDNY unseals criminal complaint charging Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. CFTC simultaneously files civil complaint (Release 9237-26). Spagnuolo arrested in New York, appears before a federal magistrate judge, does not enter a plea, and is released on $2.25 million bond. Google places him on administrative leave.
DOJ SDNY press release; CFTC press release 9237-26; ABC News; BloombergDecision Log
- hash: 4xwoqpeLi4L8fM65Zo9JBu2cr6KYLYb8DWPVGpLrBG44
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 6/3/2026, 2:12:25 AM
last updated: 6/3/2026, 2:12:30 AM
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