U.S. prosecutors slapped insider trading charges against a Google employee this week, alleging the software engineer used confidential company information to pocket more than US$1.2 million from prediction market platform Polymarket with bets on search trends.

A Google staffer fraudulently made more than $1 million by using inside information to place Polymarket bets on what users were searching for on Google, authorities say.

Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering for allegedly using confidential search data to win $1.2M on Polymarket.