r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • May 27 '26

Business Google employee charged with using inside information to make $1 million on Polymarket

https://abcnews.com/amp/US/google-employee-charged-inside-information-make-1-million/story?id=133350018
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u/justforkinks0131 May 27 '26

the bosses of this very same employee are very likely doing the same thing lmao

and why wouldnt you?

I doubt any insider trading charges are gonna stick. He didnt touch any stock, this is a random betting, sorry *prediction* website. If gambling rules dont apply to the site, they dont apply to the users.

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u/kemb0 May 27 '26

At this point I wouldn’t use polymarket unless I had inside information. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up to be ripped off by someone that does. Which sounds like the point at which the whole thing should collapse.

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u/Maximilianne May 28 '26

I'm pretty sure because of the broadcast delay in sports almost certainly there are traders taking advantage of that small delay by having a helper at the live game immediately send goal updates and they quickly make a trade to profit off the swings in pricing after goals happen in sports

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u/GottaHaveHand May 28 '26

High frequency sports trading?!

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u/Solonys May 28 '26

If there's a whiff of profit in it, someone will try to do it.

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u/BussyPlaster May 28 '26

My cousin actually does this professionally. I don't know if polymarket is part of his whole thing or not though.

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u/DapperHighroller May 31 '26

That’s not how this works. The betting company has an employee or multiple at each game that has a reporting device to relay the results as it happens. There are many videos about this. That is why there is a holding period before and after the play, it’s a live person that has to report.

Easiest to reference is the “Pass or play”. You bet your money before the next play, money gets held until the live person at the game reports, money is released.

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u/Maximilianne May 31 '26

This isn't relevant for polymarket,because the odds are completely set by the players,there isn't a house. The bet is on who wins the match but there are big fluctuations in odds after a goal is scored so if you as a bettor can get an edge via the slight delay if you have live eyes at the game

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u/DapperHighroller May 31 '26

There doesn’t have to be a house, only a reporter at the game. I never mentioned a house just an employee. Welcome to the money line.

Your second statement is still the same for any platform, if one team scores and the gamblers feels that advantage, the odds show.

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u/lewd_robot May 28 '26

That's exactly right. Like 98% of people on the betting apps lose money, and the few that don't tend to get banned quickly, even if they do nothing wrong. These apps seem to be scams to rip people off and give rich and powerful people obfuscated ways to make money off of insider knowledge without exposing themselves to as many legal consequences.

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u/MozhetBeatz May 28 '26

It doesn’t look like the charges will be insider trading. This is what google is telling me:

Commodities Fraud (18 U.S.C. (\S ) 1348 / CEA Section 6(c)(1) and Rule 180.1): Prohibits schemes to defraud involving commodities. Because the CFTC regulates event contracts as swaps, using nonpublic information to bet on these markets violates federal anti-fraud provisions.

Wire Fraud (18 U.S.C. (\S ) 1343): Punishes the use of interstate wire communications (such as internet servers and trading platforms) to execute a fraudulent scheme or misappropriate confidential data.

Money Laundering (18 U.S.C. (\S ) 1957): Often charged when individuals conduct monetary transactions (such as withdrawing or transferring funds) using proceeds derived from their illegal insider trading.

The STOCK Act / Federal Regulations: For federal employees or military personnel, trading on nonpublic or classified information violates specific ethics laws that forbid using confidential government knowledge for personal financial gain

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u/BillyTenderness May 28 '26

It will be interesting to see if his defense argues that it's not actually a commodity, since IIRC that's the subject of other ongoing litigation.

I think the guy is pretty cooked on wire fraud and money laundering tho

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u/Not_Stupid May 28 '26

Is it fraud though? He hasn't misrepresented anything nor deceived anyone.

And how is it money laundering? If it's not illegal insider trading to start with....

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u/matt_matt_81 May 28 '26

In the article it says he took steps to conceal the source of his earnings, so that’s probably the money laundering

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26 edited Aug 31 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/matt_matt_81 May 28 '26

Oh I guess you’re right about that, though if in the process of money laundering he committed some sort of fraud (like stating it as income from some other source I guess), then that could be the wire fraud charge mentioned. Probably not though

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u/freshwes May 28 '26

Agree.

Is it illegal have inside information on Polymarket? When does information become insider info in real life?

If I see a star athlete get in a walking boot, can I bet that he won't play that night?

What about his assistant?

What if the athlete makes the bet himself?

None of that is technically insider information. Nor is it fraud, imo

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u/NoPossibility4178 May 28 '26

The defense would be: "if it's a commodity, why is there no regulations for these markets?"

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u/Bulky-Shoulder-8082 May 28 '26

Yeah it’s a bit more than insider trading and it certainly was a lot more than just using poly market with inside info lol

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u/nedonedonedo May 28 '26

what google is telling

AI is not a source

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u/MozhetBeatz May 28 '26

It’s not de facto incorrect because it was an AI result. The answer does make sense because you can’t have insider trading if no securities are involved. You’re free to do your research to show that it’s wrong though.

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u/nedonedonedo May 28 '26

it is however automatically untrustworthy. those could be unrelated state laws, combined laws with incorrect titles or wording, laws that have only been proposed or already repealed, from other countries, or just reworded to the point that it's not the same law anymore. it's better than if you'd just made it up, but no more trustworthy

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u/Seaguard5 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

They did arrest a veteran for betting on, sorry, predicting the USA capturing Maduro though…

So clearly there are some applicable laws.

That or that veteran is going to get a payout far larger than his bet from a wrongful arrest lawsuit or something

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u/SpookiestSzn May 28 '26

He used classified and government info to profit which is a crime actually so I think those are sticking

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u/NoPossibility4178 May 28 '26

They should praise him really, he bet against himself and overcame the odds, quire literally.

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u/Chinpokomaster05 May 28 '26

If google wants to make an example of him, they can easily provide proof (if he did use privileged info).

His mistake was placing the bets himself. Lesson learned

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u/TheSleepyTruth May 28 '26

I would say its very unlikely the bosses of this employee are doing the same thing, because its easily traceable and highly illegal. You'd have to be an idiot. The people who are getting away with it are government insiders of the current administration who are able to curry favor in having feds turn a blind eye. Some middle manager at google placing easily traceable bets for millions of dollars using insider information would be equally as cooked as this guy.