FBI says Google engineer used internal search data to win $1.2M on Polymarket
FBI says Google engineer used internal search data to win $1.2M on Polymarket
美国联邦调查局：谷歌工程师利用内部搜索数据在 Polymarket 获利 120 万美元
The US charged a Google software engineer with insider trading after he allegedly made a profit of $1.2 million on Polymarket bets related to which public figures would top Google’s rankings for the most searched names in 2025. 美国检方指控一名谷歌软件工程师涉嫌内幕交易。据称，该工程师在预测市场平台 Polymarket 上押注 2025 年谷歌搜索量最高的公众人物，并借此获利 120 万美元。
Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen who lives in Switzerland, “was arrested on Wednesday and brought before a federal judge in New York,” the BBC wrote. Spagnuolo was charged “with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering arising from his scheme to misappropriate confidential information from his employer and use that information to place a series of profitable Google-related trades on a prediction market platform,” the Justice Department announced yesterday. 据英国广播公司（BBC）报道，居住在瑞士的意大利公民米歇尔·斯帕纽洛（Michele Spagnuolo）“已于周三被捕，并被带到纽约联邦法官面前”。美国司法部昨日宣布，斯帕纽洛被控“商品欺诈、电信欺诈和洗钱罪，起因是他策划挪用雇主的机密信息，并利用这些信息在预测市场平台上进行了一系列有利可图的谷歌相关交易”。
An unsealed criminal complaint said that Spagnuolo, using the account name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, made bets on who would be the most-searched people on Google in 2025. “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,” the complaint said. 一份已解封的刑事起诉书显示，斯帕纽洛在 Polymarket 上使用“AlphaRaccoon”账户名，对 2025 年谷歌搜索量最高的人物进行押注。起诉书称：“与交易对手不同，斯帕纽洛在交易公众之前就已知晓这些赌注的结果，因为他访问了谷歌机密且具有商业价值的内部数据。”
Spagnuolo had access to internal Google systems, including a software tool with “confidential, nonpublic Year in Search data,” FBI Special Agent Brandon Racz wrote in the complaint. Spagnuolo allegedly bet over $2.7 million and made a $1.2 million profit after Google publicly announced its Year in Search 2025 results in early December. He also apparently made over $1 million on other profitable bets on Polymarket, but the FBI didn’t say what those other bets were for. 联邦调查局（FBI）特别探员布兰登·拉兹（Brandon Racz）在起诉书中写道，斯帕纽洛有权访问谷歌内部系统，包括一个包含“机密、非公开的年度搜索数据”的软件工具。据称，在谷歌于 12 月初公布 2025 年度搜索结果后，斯帕纽洛押注超过 270 万美元，获利 120 万美元。此外，他似乎还在 Polymarket 的其他赌注中获利超过 100 万美元，但 FBI 并未说明这些赌注的具体内容。
Google says he used “tool available to all employees”
谷歌称其使用了“所有员工均可使用的工具”
Google said it suspended the employee and is cooperating with law enforcement. “We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation,” Google said in a statement provided to Ars. “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.” 谷歌表示已将该员工停职，并正在配合执法部门调查。谷歌在提供给 Ars 的声明中表示：“我们正在配合执法部门的调查。该员工是使用所有员工均可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押注严重违反了我们的政策。我们已让该员工休假，并将采取适当行动。”
Between October 15, 2025, and December 4, 2025, “Spagnuolo’s AlphaRaccoon account risked approximately $2,754,092 on approximately 25 Google Year in Search 2025 outcomes that the market treated as unlikely,” the US complaint said. 美国起诉书称，在 2025 年 10 月 15 日至 2025 年 12 月 4 日期间，“斯帕纽洛的 AlphaRaccoon 账户在约 25 个被市场认为不太可能的‘谷歌 2025 年度搜索’结果上投入了约 2,754,092 美元。”
Spagnuolo’s bets included $937,688 on the “No” side of “Will Bianca Censori be the #1 searched person on Google this year?”; $613,587 on the “No” side of “Will Pope Leo XIV be the #1 searched person on Google this year?”; $509,149 on the “No” side of “Will Donald Trump be the #1 searched person on Google this year?”; and $171,612 on the “No” side of “Will Donald Trump rank in Google’s Top 5 Most Searched People of 2025?” 斯帕纽洛的押注包括：投入 937,688 美元押注“比安卡·森索里（Bianca Censori）今年会成为谷歌搜索量第一的人”为“否”；投入 613,587 美元押注“教皇利奥十四世今年会成为谷歌搜索量第一的人”为“否”；投入 509,149 美元押注“唐纳德·特朗普今年会成为谷歌搜索量第一的人”为“否”；以及投入 171,612 美元押注“唐纳德·特朗普会进入谷歌 2025 年度搜索人物前五名”为“否”。
The AlphaRaccoon account also made bets related to Zohran Mamdani, Kendrick Lamar, Jimmy Kimmel, d4vd, Sydney Sweeney, Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk, Luigi Mangione, Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Squid Game, and Andy Byron. AlphaRaccoon 账户还对佐兰·马姆达尼（Zohran Mamdani）、肯德里克·拉马尔（Kendrick Lamar）、吉米·坎摩尔（Jimmy Kimmel）、d4vd、悉尼·斯威尼（Sydney Sweeney）、泰勒·罗宾逊（Tyler Robinson）、查理·柯克（Charlie Kirk）、路易吉·曼吉奥内（Luigi Mangione）、埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）、泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）、《鱿鱼游戏》（Squid Game）和安迪·拜伦（Andy Byron）等相关话题进行了押注。
AlphaRaccoon’s winning bets did not go unnoticed by people who watch prediction markets. “In or about early December 2025, after Discord and X communities discussed AlphaRaccoon, and speculated its user was a Google insider, the ‘AlphaRaccoon’ username was removed from the Polymarket account, reverting the username to an alphanumeric wallet address,” the US complaint said. AlphaRaccoon 的获胜赌注引起了预测市场观察者的注意。美国起诉书称：“2025 年 12 月初左右，在 Discord 和 X 社区讨论 AlphaRaccoon 并猜测其用户是谷歌内部人士后，‘AlphaRaccoon’用户名从 Polymarket 账户中删除，用户名恢复为字母数字钱包地址。”
Spagnuolo won bets “with near-perfect accuracy”
斯帕纽洛以“近乎完美的准确率”赢得赌注
Spagnuolo was also charged in a civil complaint by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The criminal and civil complaints were both filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Spagnuolo made at least 23 bets on “Yes” or “No” shares and won “with near-perfect accuracy,” the CFTC complaint against Spagnuolo said. 斯帕纽洛还面临美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）的民事起诉。刑事和民事诉讼均已提交至美国纽约南区联邦地区法院。针对斯帕纽洛的 CFTC 起诉书称，他至少进行了 23 次“是”或“否”的份额押注，并以“近乎完美的准确率”获胜。
The criminal complaint said Spagnuolo “attempted to conceal his unlawful proceeds and his association to accounts used in his scheme,” but that the FBI was able to connect him to the wagers after reviewing documents provided by Polymarket, information available on cryptocurrency blockchains, and records from cryptocurrency services companies. 刑事起诉书称，斯帕纽洛“试图隐瞒其非法所得以及他与计划中所用账户的关联”，但 FBI 在审查了 Polymarket 提供的文件、加密货币区块链上的可用信息以及加密货币服务公司的记录后，成功将其与这些赌注联系起来。
The AlphaRaccoon Polymarket account was allegedly funded by a cryptocurrency wallet identified as Wallet-0xAf6. “Through a series of transactions in November 2025, Wallet-0xAf6 sent cryptocurrency to a particular cryptocurrency swapping service and then to a particular cryptocurrency payment processor, which were received by an account in Spagnuolo’s name which was opened using Spagnuolo’s Italian Government identification card,” the CFTC complaint said. 据称，AlphaRaccoon 的 Polymarket 账户资金来源于一个名为 Wallet-0xAf6 的加密货币钱包。CFTC 起诉书称：“通过 2025 年 11 月的一系列交易，Wallet-0xAf6 将加密货币发送到特定的加密货币交换服务，然后发送到特定的加密货币支付处理器，最终由一个以斯帕纽洛名义开设的账户接收，该账户是使用斯帕纽洛的意大利政府身份证件开设的。”
After the $2.7 million in bets netted a $1.2 million profit, the AlphaRaccoon Polymarket account received over $3.9 million in USDC.e, a stablecoin pegged to the value of the US dollar, the CFTC said. The account then sent over $5 million to Wallet-0xAf6. The extra money “appear[s] to be proceeds of other profitable Polymarket trades made by the AlphaRaccoon Polymarket account,” the FBI complaint said. CFTC 表示，在 270 万美元的赌注获利 120 万美元后，AlphaRaccoon 的 Polymarket 账户收到了超过 390 万美元的 USDC.e（一种与美元挂钩的稳定币）。随后，该账户向 Wallet-0xAf6 发送了超过 500 万美元。FBI 起诉书称，多出的资金“似乎是 AlphaRaccoon Polymarket 账户进行的其他盈利性 Polymarket 交易的收益”。
The criminal charges have combined maximum penalties of 50 years in prison, though any sentence would be determined by a judge if Spagnuolo is convicted. The CFTC complaint seeks disgorgement of profits and monetary penalties. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the complaint against Spagnuolo “underscores our commitment to rooting out insider trading and promoting market integrity in prediction markets.” 这些刑事指控合并后的最高刑期为 50 年监禁，但如果斯帕纽洛被定罪，任何刑期都将由法官决定。CFTC 的起诉书寻求没收非法所得并处以罚款。CFTC 主席迈克尔·塞利格（Michael Selig）表示，针对斯帕纽洛的起诉“凸显了我们根除内幕交易和促进预测市场诚信的承诺”。