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A Google engineer has been charged with insider trading after he allegedly made $1.2 million betting on prediction markets.
D4vd became Google's most searched person in 2025 after a decomposed and dismembered body of a teenage girl was found in his Tesla in September.
The disturbing case made headlines globally amid the potential romance between the then-20-year-old singer and Celeste Rivas, who was not 15 when her body was discovered.
As the case was widely reported, not many people knew who the singer actually was, and a Google employee allegedly took advantage of that with a million-dollar bet.
Federal prosecutors have accused a Google engineer of turning confidential search trend data into a $1.2 million betting profit on the prediction market platform Polymarket.
Authorities have dubbed the case one of the most blatant examples of insider trading in the fast-growing world of online betting markets to date.
Michele Spagnuolo, 26, allegedly operated under the alias "AlphaRacoon" when he used the company's non-public information to place bets linked to Google's annual "Year in Search" ranking.
He has been charged in Manhattan federal court with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
As per a criminal complaint, Spagnuolo accessed internal Google search trend data before it was publicly released and used that information to make wagers on Polymarket contracts linked to the company's year-end search rankings.
Spagnuolo allegedly wagered roughly $2.7 million between October and December 2025, generating more than $1.2 million in profits.
Authorities said the engineer repeatedly adjusted his bets in real time and the bet turned more profitable as initial trends suggested that the most searched person in 2025 could be Kendrick Lamar.
Google responds to the charge
"We're working with law enforcement on their investigation," a Google spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. "Using confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies."
Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen living in Switzerland, has been working at Google since 2014 and has now been placed on leave.
He was released on bond after an initial court appearance and if convicted, he could face decades in jail.
