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Shohei Ohtani's Former Interpreter Charged With Stealing $16 Million From Los Angeles Dodgers Star
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, right, and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, leave after at a news conference at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea, on March 16, 2024.
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Lee Jin-man/AP
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AP
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Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been charged with stealing more than $16 million from the baseball player to finance his "voracious appetite for sports betting," prosecutors announced Thursday.
United States Attorney Martin Estrada said Mizuhara helped Ohtani set up a bank account, and then lied to the bank to authorize wire transfers to the bookie.
"Mizuhara stole this money largely to finance his voracious appetite for sports betting," Estrada said, adding that Ohtani was considered a victim in the case.
The bets appear to not have been placed on baseball, he added.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March after Ohtani's lawyers accused him of stealing millions of dollars from the baseball player to place bets with a bookie based in Orange County. ESPN reported that at least $4.5 million was allegedly sent from Ohtani's account to the bookie through a series of wire transfers.
Earlier this year, Mizuhara told ESPN he placed bets on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL, and college football — not on baseball. Sports gambling is illegal in California. MLB’s Department of Investigations has launched its own probe.
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During a news conference two weeks ago, Ohtani said he was “very shocked that someone I trusted has done this" and denied ever taking part in sport gambling.
“I never bet on baseball or any other sport or asked somebody to do it on my behalf. And I have never [gone] through a bookmaker to bet on sports,” he added.
He also said he never agreed to pay off Mizuhara’s debt, adding, “Ippei has been stealing from my account and told lies.”
The pair first met in 2013, when Ohtani moved to the U.S. to play baseball. Since Ohtani did not speak English, Mizuhara became his translator and “defacto manager,” Estrada said.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mizuhara began gambling in September 2021 with the illegal bookie and started losing substantial sums of money.
At the same time, the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account was changed to link the account to Mizuhara’s phone number and an anonymous email so that the baseball star wouldn’t be notified of transactions, the affidavit states.
The translator also allegedly refused to give bank access to Ohtani’s agent, accountant or financial advisor.
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Mizuhara also allegedly impersonated Ohtani to bank employees in order to get the wire transfers authorized.
Mizuhara is expected to turn himself on Friday, but will not be asked to enter a plea for charges, according to the US Attorney's Office. Instead, prosecutors expect he will be released on bond.
His attorney declined to comment.
Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December, has remained active during the investigations. A spokesperson said the team had no comment on the Mizuhara case.
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