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Google Engineer Bets Insider Search Data, Wins $1.2 M, Arrested

5/28/2026

43 8 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Michele Spagnuolo, a Google software engineer, accessed confidential Year-in-Search data and turned a $1,000 insider wager into a $1.2 million payout by betting D4vd would rank among the top five searched people of 2025 on Polymarket.
He was arrested in New York, charged with fraud, and released on a $2.25 million bond.
The federal complaint alleges he tried to conceal the source and ownership of the illicit proceeds.

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Story summary

Michele Spagnuolo, a Google software engineer, accessed confidential Year-in-Search data and turned a $1,000 insider wager into a $1.2 million payout by betting D4vd would rank among the top five searched people of 2025 on Polymarket.
He was arrested in New York, charged with fraud, and released on a $2.25 million bond.
The federal complaint alleges he tried to conceal the source and ownership of the illicit proceeds.