Google employee charged with using insider data to rig bets on Polymarket

US DoJ alleges software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, 36, earned $1.2m betting on Google’s most-searched list Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The US justice department has charged a Google software engineer with using insider information to rig bets tied to Google’s most-searched list on the prediction market Polymarket, earning $1.2m in profits, according to a complaint unsealed on Wednesday. Michele Spagnuolo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen, allegedly used insider information to bet on long-shot candidates and reap immense financial gain. His arrest comes one month after prosecutors charged a US army soldier with using classified information to place Polymarket bets about military action in Venezuela. The charges against Spagnuolo are part of a broader boom in the use and misuse of prediction markets, which have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry in recent years. Concerns over insider trading have led to federal agencies taking a closer look at how to regulate markets and prosecute potential use of classified information for betting purposes. Although numerous states have considered bans or increased regulation of prediction markets, there is no cohesive fed