Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, pled guilty to criminal charges this past Wednesday.[1] The criminal charges were in connection with Mizuhara’s scheme to steal more than $17 million from Ohtani to pay off the extensive debts he accumulated through illegal gambling.[2] When the news broke of Mizuhara’s illegal gambling operation, he was immediately fired by the Dodgers.
The criminal charges are for bank and tax fraud, and he will face up to 30 years in jail. Mizuhara was stealing from the Dodgers superstar. Ohtani has been painted as an “unwitting victim of [Mizuhara’s] deception.”[3] U.S. attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement, “[Mizuhara] took advantage of his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit. My office is committed to vindicating victims throughout our community and ensuring that wrongdoers face justice.”[4]
Mizuhara accessed one of Ohtani’s bank accounts without his knowledge and siphoned money out to pay off his gambling debts to a bookie in California, where sports betting is illegal.[5] Mizuhara was able to change the information on the account to his own and impersonated Ohtani when contacting the bank.[6] This allowed Mizuhara full control of Ohtani’s assets that were in the account. This scheme went on for nearly 3 years before Mizuhara was finally caught.
When the news of the gambling operation first came out, Mizuhara made some questionable statements that had sports fans worried that Ohtani was involved with illegal gambling. Ohtani always maintained his innocence, claiming that he was the victim of a massive theft. “When federal prosecutors brought charges against Mizuhara, they immediately dispelled that Ohtani had any involvement in the betting operation.”[7]
The plea deal also revealed that last September Ohtani gave Mizuhara a $60,000 check for dental work to be done.[8] Instead of using this money for his dental work, Mizuhara “gave the dentist’s office the debit card information for the account he had seized from Ohtani, and later deposited Ohtani’s check into his own personal account.”[9] Mizuhara also fraudulently claimed that he only received $136,000 worth of income when filing his taxes, concealing more than $4 million from the government.
The U.S. government and the IRS are determined to make things right for Ohtani and will make every effort to do so. Mizuhara is likely to receive a harsh sentencing as he took advantage of someone who trusted him and did so in a massive way.
[1] Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter To Plead Guilty In Betting Scam – Law360
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
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