(Los Angeles) Shohei Ohtani’s former longtime performer is charged with federal bank fraud for crimes involving gambling debts and the theft of millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Dodgers star player, federal authorities said.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announced the charges Thursday.
Ippei Mizuhara became an interpreter for Ohtani after the player landed in the United States to play baseball. Estrada claimed that Mizhuara “acted as Mr. Ohtani’s de facto manager.”
Estrada said Mizuhara helped Ohtani open a bank account into which Ohtani deposited his baseball salary. Estrada said Mizuhara stole more than $16 million from Ohtani’s bank accounts to pay for his own sports bets and lied to the bank to gain access to the account.
Estrada pointed out that Mizuhara was able to “use and abuse” his position of trust with Ohtani “in order to plunder Mr. Ohtani’s bank account.” Estrada also confirmed that when Mizuhara won on sports bets, he did not deposit the money into Ohtani’s account.
“Mr. Mizuhara did all of this to feed his insatiable appetite for illegal sports betting,” Estrada said, adding that the complaint alleges he committed fraud “on a massive scale.”
Estrada noted that there is no evidence that Ohtani was aware of his interpreter’s actions, adding that Ohtani cooperated fully and completely with investigators.
“I want to emphasize this point: Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case,” he argued.
Mizuhara is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles soon for his first appearance, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.
“We have no comment at this time,” Michael G. Freedman, Mizuhara’s lawyer, wrote in an email to The Associated Press after the charge was announced.
The maximum sentence for Mizuhara’s bank fraud charge is 30 years in prison.
Mizuhara was abruptly fired by the team after the scandal surfaced last month, catalyzed by a criminal investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. government agency that is responsible for managing and inspecting the bonds. tax. The investigation targeted a suspected illegal bookmaker. Major League Baseball then opened a separate investigation.
Ohtani then presented a version of events that placed the blame squarely on Mizuhara, who had given conflicting accounts as to whether Ohtani had repaid Mizuhara’s gambling debts.
Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels in December to sign a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers. Ohtani and Mizuhara have been daily companions since he joined the Angels in 2018.
Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid off his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. But ESPN reported that Mizuhara changed his story the next day, saying Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to the bookmakers.
On March 25, Ohtani explained during a press conference at Dodger Stadium that he never bet on sports or knowingly paid gambling debts accrued by his interpreter.
“I am very saddened and shocked by someone I trusted,” said the star player through a new interpreter. Ippei stole money from my account and lied. I have never bet on sports and have never voluntarily sent money to bookmakers. »
Ohtani insisted he first became aware of Mizuhara’s gambling problem during a team meeting after the Dodgers’ first win of the season against the San Diego Padres in Seoul. in South Korea.
There was no information on the status of Major League Baseball’s separate investigation. League rules prohibit players and team employees from betting – even legally – on baseball. They also prohibit betting on other sports from illegal or unregistered bookmakers.