Google Security Engineer Arrested in Million-Dollar Polymarket Trading Scheme
Google Security Engineer Arrested in Million-Dollar Polymarket Trading Scheme
谷歌安全工程师因涉嫌百万美元 Polymarket 交易计划被捕
A Google security engineer has been charged with crimes stemming from allegedly placing trades on Polymarket using confidential internal information from the tech giant. Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen, was arrested this morning in New York, as first reported by ABC News. 一名谷歌安全工程师因涉嫌利用这家科技巨头的内部机密信息在 Polymarket 上进行交易，目前已被指控犯罪。据美国广播公司（ABC News）率先报道，36 岁的意大利公民米歇尔·斯帕纽洛（Michele Spagnuolo）于今早在纽约被捕。
Spagnuolo is charged with one count each of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He has worked at Google since 2014 and was based out of the company’s Zurich, Switzerland, offices. 斯帕纽洛被控犯有商品欺诈、电信欺诈和洗钱罪，每项罪名各一项。他自 2014 年起在谷歌工作，办公地点位于瑞士苏黎世。
According to the complaint, Spagnuolo placed trades on Polymarket from around October 2025 to December 2025 using internal Google data. In one instance, he netted $1.2 million trading on who Google’s most-searched person of the year would be in 2025, correctly predicting that the winner would be D4vd, a once obscure singer who became the subject of intense public scrutiny after he was suspected of murder. (D4vd was ultimately charged in the case in April.) 根据起诉书，斯帕纽洛在 2025 年 10 月至 12 月期间，利用谷歌内部数据在 Polymarket 上进行交易。其中一次，他通过押注“2025 年谷歌年度搜索量最高的人物”获利 120 万美元，他准确预测了获胜者是 D4vd。D4vd 曾是一位名不见经传的歌手，在涉嫌谋杀案后成为公众密切关注的对象。（D4vd 最终于 4 月在该案中被起诉。）
“Unlike the counterparties to his trades, Spagnuolo knew the outcome of these wagers before the trading public did because he had accessed Google’s confidential, commercially valuable internal data,” FBI agent Brandon Racz wrote in the complaint. 联邦调查局（FBI）探员布兰登·拉兹（Brandon Racz）在起诉书中写道：“与他的交易对手不同，斯帕纽洛在交易大众之前就知道了这些赌注的结果，因为他获取了谷歌机密且具有商业价值的内部数据。”
This is the second known arrest in the United States for illicit activity on prediction markets. In April, a US Army special forces officer was arrested for allegedly placing bets on markets related to the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Both cases have been brought by the Southern District of New York. 这是美国第二起因预测市场非法活动而引发的逮捕事件。今年 4 月，一名美国陆军特种部队军官因涉嫌在与抓捕委内瑞拉前领导人尼古拉斯·马杜罗（Nicolás Maduro）相关的市场上进行投注而被捕。这两起案件均由纽约南区联邦检察官办公室提起诉讼。
OpenAI fired an employee earlier this year for using insider information to make trades on a prediction platform, but this is the first time that a tech worker has been arrested for their alleged activity. OpenAI 今年早些时候解雇了一名员工，原因是他利用内幕信息在预测平台上进行交易，但这是首次有科技从业者因涉嫌此类活动而被捕。
Polymarket has come under fire from lawmakers for its reputation as a hub of illegal activity. Last week, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman James Comer launched an investigation into insider trading on prediction markets platforms and requested information from Polymarket about how the company vets its customers. There are two versions of Polymarket: a smaller platform that is legal in the United States and a much larger offshore version that is technically blocked in the US and where traders use cryptocurrency to place their wagers. Polymarket 因其作为非法活动中心的声誉而受到立法者的抨击。上周，众议院监督与政府改革委员会主席詹姆斯·科默（James Comer）对预测市场平台的内幕交易展开了调查，并要求 Polymarket 提供有关其如何审查客户的信息。Polymarket 有两个版本：一个是美国境内合法的较小平台，另一个是规模大得多的海外版本，该版本在美国技术上是被屏蔽的，交易者使用加密货币进行投注。
“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 spokesperson Jaclyn Vazquez said in a statement to WIRED. 谷歌发言人杰克琳·瓦斯奎兹（Jaclyn Vazquez）在给《连线》（WIRED）的一份声明中表示：“我们正在配合执法部门的调查。该员工是利用所有员工都能使用的工具访问了我们的营销材料，但利用此类机密信息进行投注严重违反了我们的政策。我们已让该员工停职，并将采取适当行动。”
“Polymarket worked closely with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and [the Commodity Futures Trading Commission], and is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States,” Polymarket spokesperson Connor Brandi told WIRED. “Blockchain trading is transparent, traceable, and bad actors leave footprints. We are committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets as well as enforcing our rules and working with our regulators and law enforcement.” In a social media post, Polymarket said the arrest was the result of a referral it made to authorities. Polymarket 发言人康纳·布兰迪（Connor Brandi）告诉《连线》：“Polymarket 与纽约南区联邦检察官办公室及美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）密切合作，是迄今为止唯一一家因其配合而导致美国境内出现内幕交易指控的预测平台。区块链交易是透明且可追踪的，不法分子会留下足迹。我们致力于维护准确、公平和透明的市场，并执行我们的规则，与监管机构和执法部门合作。”Polymarket 在社交媒体上发文称，此次逮捕是其向当局举报的结果。
Anyone can trace activity on Polymarket’s crypto-based platform, since all of the wallet transactions are public. Spagnuolo allegedly made his trades using an account with the user name AlphaRaccoon, which Polymarket watchers had long speculated may have belonged to a Google insider, since the odds of correctly predicting the answers to the questions he wagered on were so improbable. 任何人都可以追踪 Polymarket 基于加密货币平台上的活动，因为所有的钱包交易都是公开的。据称，斯帕纽洛使用用户名“AlphaRaccoon”的账户进行交易。Polymarket 的观察人士长期以来一直猜测该账户可能属于一名谷歌内部人士，因为他所押注问题的预测准确率高得离谱。
Earlier this month, Michael Selig, chairman of the CFTC, which is tasked with regulating prediction markets in the US, told WIRED that the agency is using artificial intelligence tools to hunt for market manipulation and insider trading in the industry. 本月早些时候，负责监管美国预测市场的商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）主席迈克尔·塞利格（Michael Selig）告诉《连线》，该机构正在利用人工智能工具来搜寻行业内的市场操纵和内幕交易行为。