Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced to 57 months in jail. Per Sam Blum of The Athletic, there shall be three years of supervised launch and Mizuhara has been ordered to pay Ohtani almost $17M in restitution.
In March 2024, reports emerged that tens of millions of {dollars} had been wired from an account in Ohtani’s title to an unlawful playing ring. Mizuhara initially mentioned that Ohtani agreed to the switch with a view to assist him with playing money owed. Ohtani’s attorneys offered an alternate narrative, stating that the participant “had been the sufferer of a large theft” and Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers. MLB opened an investigation into the matter shortly thereafter.
Ohtani then read a statement to the media, interpreted by Dodgers worker Will Ireton, who had changed Mizuhara. Ohtani acknowledged that he had by no means guess on baseball, nor every other sport. He additionally claimed to have had no information of Mizuhara’s conduct till simply earlier than the current reporting. “Ippei has been stealing cash from my account and has advised lies,” Ohtani mentioned.
In April 2024, Mizuhara was charged with bank fraud, alleged to have transferred greater than $16M from Ohtani’s account to the betting ring. Prosecutors recognized Ohtani as a sufferer within the case. Mizuhara allegedly arrange the account with Ohtani in 2018, when the participant was first making the transfer from Japan to North America. The 2 had met whereas each have been employed by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Ohtani’s Nippon Skilled Baseball membership.
Per the allegations, Mizuhara repeatedly contacted the financial institution and pretended to be Ohtani with a view to entry the account and get cash to gas his playing behavior. Ohtani’s agent repeatedly requested in regards to the account, however Mizuhara advised him it was “non-public” and that Ohtani didn’t need anybody else to watch it. Ohtani, in the meantime, believed that his accountants and monetary advisers have been monitoring the accounts. Since Mizuhara dealt with all of the language interpretation between Ohtani and his crew, either side remained unaware of what was happening.
Investigators had additionally seen textual content messages from Mizuhara admitting to the theft. “Technically I did steal from him,” one message learn. “It’s throughout for me.” Investigators seen the textual content messages between Ohtani and Mizuhara, discovering no proof that the participant had made any bets on sports activities, nor that he knew something about Mizuhara’s betting. Though Mizuhara made a whole lot of bets on sports activities, there is no such thing as a proof of him betting on baseball.
In Could 2024, Mizuhara pleaded guilty to multiple charges, together with financial institution fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. It was prompt at the moment that Mizuhara would possible be deported to Japan as soon as the authorized course of had performed out. Main League Baseball closed its investigation into Ohtani in June, citing the thorough investigation that had pointed to the participant being a sufferer, with no expenses in opposition to him. Per Blum, Mizuhara’s attorneys anticipate him to be deported, as Mizuhara is a everlasting resident of the US however not a citizen.
