DOJ charges Google staffer over Polymarket trades netting $1.2 million
A Google software engineer has been charged with using confidential company information to profit $1.2 million on Polymarket. Michele Spagnuolo allegedly placed bets based on internal Google data, which he accessed unlawfully. Google has stated that they are cooperating with the investigation and that Spagnuolo's actions represent a serious breach of company policy.
- ▪Michele Spagnuolo, a Google engineer, was arrested for allegedly using insider information to make profitable trades on Polymarket.
- ▪He is charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering for placing bets on search trends.
- ▪Google confirmed they are cooperating with the investigation and have placed Spagnuolo on leave.
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| Original publisher | NPR — News |
| Canonical URL | https://www.npr.org/2026/05/27/nx-s1-5836659/google-polymarket-insider-trading-doj-charges |
| Publication time | Wed, 27 May 2026 19:35:11 -0400 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-27T23:43:06.331Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-27T23:43:06.331Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | dA_qFZ4BaWH2 |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Technology DOJ charges Google staffer over Polymarket trades netting $1.2 million May 27, 20267:35 PM ET Bobby Allyn An aerial view shows Google's "Googleplex" corporate office in Mountain View, California on May 20, 2026. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images A Google software engineer has been charged with using confidential company information to make $1.2 million on Polymarket, in the second known federal criminal case connected to lucrative trades on a prediction market site.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at NPR — News.
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