The U.S. Justice Department has charged a Google software engineer with insider trading on the Polymarket prediction market, earning $1.2 million. The charges were unsealed on Wednesday.
Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen, allegedly used confidential Google data to bet on search trends. He bet on D4vd, a musician who topped Google's most-searched list after being arrested for murder.
Spagnuolo placed a bet on November 27 that D4vd would be the most-searched person, a bet with near-zero probability according to markets.
Google has placed Spagnuolo on leave and is cooperating with law enforcement.
