Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, facing federal charge for allegedly stealing $16M from Dodgers star
Mizuhara is reportedly in negotiations to plead guilty in connection to the alleged theft of Ohtani's money to cover gambling debts
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Shohei Ohtani, has been formally charged with bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star.
During a news conference Thursday, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said that Mizuhara made unauthorized transfers from Ohtani's bank account between November 2021 and January 2024 to pay off his gambling debts with an illegal bookmaker.
The bank fraud charge is a felony offense that carries a maximum fine of up to $1 million and/or up to 30 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California. Mizuhara is expected to appear in a U.S. district court in Los Angeles in the "near future."
The New York Times reported Wednesday night that Mizuhara is in negotiations to plead guilty in connection to the alleged theft of Ohtani's money.
According to an affidavit, Mizuhara wired more than $16 million of unauthorized transfers from Ohtani's bank account from "devices and IP addresses associated with Mizuhara."
That bank account in Arizona was opened by Ohtani with Mizuhara's assistance in 2018. Mizuhara provided translation help while the account, which received Ohtani's MLB salary, was set up. Ohtani said via the affidavit that he never gave Mizuhara control of his financial accounts.
Text messages showed that after Mizuhara began losing large sums of money via gambling with an illegal sports book, the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account allegedly was changed and linked to an account with Mizuhara's phone number and to an anonymous email address connected to Mizuhara.
The world's worst gambler. pic.twitter.com/C5lRs6CR7k
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) April 11, 2024
Mizuhara also allegedly called the bank and falsely identified himself as Ohtani in order to fool the employees into authorizing the wire transfers from Ohtani's account to associates of the illegal gambling operation.
"MIZUHARA messaged BOOKMAKER 1 stating, “Have you seen the reports?” BOOKMAKER 1 responded, “Yes, but that’s all bullshit. Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand it’s a cover job .. MIZUHARA then responded, “Technically I did steal from him. it’s all over for me.” "
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 11, 2024
Mizuhara is also alleged to have purchased approximately 1,000 baseball cards via eBay and Whatnot at a cost of approximately $325,000 and had them mailed to himself under an alias and to the Dodgers' clubhouse.
Ohtani denied authorizing the wire transfers in an interview with investigators last week and provided his cell phone to verify that he was not aware of or involved in Mizuhara's illegal activities.
“We are aware of the charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office against Mr. Mizuhara for bank fraud after a thorough federal investigation," MLB said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
"According to that investigation, Shohei Ohtani is considered a victim of fraud and there is no evidence that he authorized betting with an illegal bookmaker. Further, the investigation did not find any betting on baseball by Mr. Mizuhara.
"Given the information disclosed today, and other information we have already collected, we will wait until resolution of the criminal proceeding to determine whether further investigation is warranted.”
The Dodgers announced that Mizuhara had been fired from his role as Ohtani's interpreter in March amid claims from Ohtani's representation that Mizuhara stole funds. The amount was reported then to be roughly $4.5 million. Ohtani's representatives were reportedly quick to request a legal investigation into the scheme, and MLB opened its own investigation two days after Mizuhara's firing.
Ohtani broke his silence regarding the scandal on March 26, saying that he "never bet on baseball or any other sports."
The probe into Mizuhara's actions was a joint effort led by the Los Angeles branch of the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California. Prosecutors found evidence that Mizuhara had stolen more from Ohtani than the previously cited $4.5 million.
The initial allegations against Mizuhara surfaced while the Dodgers were in Seoul, South Korea, for the club's season-opening series against the San Diego Padres. Mizuhara was confronted by law enforcement officials upon his return to California, but he wasn't arrested.
Given that the story from Ohtani's camp regarding the theft changed twice, Mizuhara's guilty plea could help clarify the confusing timeline.
Time is also apparently of the essence for the former interpreter. A swift admission of guilt could reportedly sway federal prosecutors and judges to levy a gentler punishment against Mizuhara.
