When the Los Angeles Dodgers were playing the Seoul Series, it was revealed that Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was being investigated for reportedly stealing money from the player to cover gambling debts.
For days, even weeks, the baseball universe speculated that Mizuhara was possibly covering for Ohtani, but authorities have determined that the global star wasn’t aware of what was happening in his bank account.
ESPN reporters Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan revealed some new developments in the case.
Gonzalez said that Mizuhara “has been charged with bank fraud.”
“Ippei Mizuhara has been charged with stealing more than $16 million from Shohei Ohtani, according to federal investigators,” Passan tweeted.
Ippei Mizuhara has been charged with stealing more than $16 million from Shohei Ohtani, according to federal investigators. https://t.co/t4R7QFlEMf
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 11, 2024
The money, which is an exorbitant amount to not notice is missing from one’s account, was reportedly used to pay an illegal sports book, federal authorities announced.
It’s a shocking development in the latest chapter of this weird, yet highly significant story.
Mizuhara was more than just an interpreter for Ohtani.
He was a close friend and a person of trust for him.
In a recent encounter with the press, however, Ohtani didn’t hide his disappointment about what Mizuhara did and told the media he was “telling lies.”
It’s safe to say that Mizuhara is in deep legal trouble because of what he did according to the results of the investigation.
Some reports even indicate that Mizuhara changed the settings of the account to not send alerts after transactions.
From @nytimes: Ohtani interpreter (1) may have stolen more than the $4.5 million we thought; and (2) could change settings on Ohtani bank account to not send alerts on transactions.
My question: ok, but is no one noticing the money disappearing? Agents? Accountants? Attorneys? pic.twitter.com/Jjq02MGvEp— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) April 11, 2024
The story, unfortunately, keeps getting darker and darker.
People still have a lot of unanswered questions, and most of those are unfortunately likely to stay that way.
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