Shohei Ohtani’s former translator Ippei Mizuhara allegedly stole greater than $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars of gambling debts, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Thursday.
The office, which filed a criminal criticism against Mizuhara alleging bank fraud on Thursday, also said Ohtani had no knowledge of the fraud and is taken into account a victim within the case.
The bets weren’t placed on baseball games, the office said.
Mizuhara had been Ohtani’s translator for years. During that point, the attorney’s office discovered Mizuhara had full access to Ohtani’s bank accounts. Phone records indicate he accessed them online and lied to the bank, pretending to be Ohtani, the office said. He refused to present access to the accounts to Ohtani’s agent and other advisors.
On March 20, 2024, Mizuhara admitted to a bookmaker in an encrypted text message that he had stolen the cash from Ohtani, in accordance with the criticism. “Technically I did steal from him. It’s throughout for me,” he wrote.
Mizuhara has been the topic of a federal investigation surrounding hundreds of thousands of dollars in wire transfers originating from Ohtani’s checking account to an illegal bookmaker starting in November 2021.
“As a result of the position of trust, he had unique access to his funds and he used and abused that place of trust to make the most of Mr. Ohtani,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada.
Attorneys for Ohtani, Mizuhara and the Dodgers declined to comment on the costs.
The Ohtani fraud was first discovered because the U.S. Department of Justice was looking into illegal sports bookmaking operations in Southern California and the laundering of the proceeds of those operations through casinos in Las Vegas. The investigations have led to criminal charges and/or convictions of 12 criminal defendants, the criticism said.
While sports gambling is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., it is unlawful in California, which has driven some bettors to illegal operations.
Mizuhara faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the costs and is anticipated to make a court appearance in the subsequent couple of days.
Estrada said Mizuhara kept his winnings in his own checking account.
Despite owing bookmakers hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, Mizuhara repeatedly asked them to extend his betting limits.
“Bad run,” he texted a bookmaker. “Any likelihood you may bump me again?? As you recognize, you haven’t got to fret about me not paying!!”
By November 2023, Mizuhara’s debts had turn out to be crippling. He messaged the identical bookmaker saying he ended up losing quite a bit of money on crypto investments up to now couple of years and took huge hits with the sports betting, too.
“Is there any option to choose an amount? I’ve lost way an excessive amount of on the location already … of course I comprehend it’s my fault,” he said.
Law enforcement officials said Ohtani has been fully cooperating and allowed them access to his electronic devices.
Ohtani told officials he believed his accountants and financial advisors were monitoring his accounts and since he received income from each foreign and domestic sources, he would generally not ask about specific accounts, but relatively, an overall picture of his investment profile. Yet, resulting from the language barrier, financial agents and advisors communicated through Mizuhara to translate to their client.
In a March 25 press conference, Ohtani said he had just learned in regards to the theft and said he felt sad, shocked and betrayed by someone he had trusted.
“I’ve never bet on baseball, another sports or never asked someone to do it on my behalf,” Ohtani said through one other translator.
Previously, Mizuhara had said Ohtani knew in regards to the debts and was helping him pay them off. He later backtracked from those statements.
Ohtani is one of the largest stars in Major League Baseball. The 29-year-old Japanese-born pitcher joined the Dodgers on Dec. 9 with a record 10-year, $700 million contract following six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani is the one MLB player to win the American League MVP by unanimous vote twice and the primary Japanese-born player to steer the most important league in home runs.
If Ohtani was found to be involved, he may very well be in violation of the MLB’s gambling policy. Punishments range from suspension of a season to being permanently ineligible.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Shohei Ohtani’s first name.