Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced to 57 months in jail. Per Sam Blum of The Athletic, there will probably be three years of supervised launch and Mizuhara has been ordered to pay Ohtani almost $17M in restitution.
In March 2024, experiences emerged that hundreds of thousands of {dollars} had been wired from an account in Ohtani’s identify to an unlawful playing ring. Mizuhara initially mentioned that Ohtani agreed to the switch with the intention to assist him with playing money owed. Ohtani’s attorneys offered another 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 learn a press release 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 data of Mizuhara’s habits till simply earlier than the latest reporting. “Ippei has been stealing cash from my account and has informed lies,” Ohtani mentioned.
In April 2024, Mizuhara was charged with financial institution 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 had 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 the intention to entry the account and get cash to gas his playing behavior. Ohtani’s agent repeatedly requested in regards to the account, however Mizuhara informed him it was “non-public” and that Ohtani didn’t need anybody else to observe it. Ohtani, in the meantime, believed that his accountants and monetary advisers had been monitoring the accounts. Since Mizuhara dealt with all of the language interpretation between Ohtani and his crew, both sides remained unaware of what was occurring.
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 tons of of bets on sports activities, there isn’t any proof of him betting on baseball.
In Might 2024, Mizuhara pleaded responsible to a number of costs, together with financial institution fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. It was instructed at the moment that Mizuhara would probably 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 costs towards him. Per Blum, Mizuhara’s attorneys anticipate him to be deported, as Mizuhara is a everlasting resident of america however not a citizen.
