The United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced on May 8, 2024, that Ippei Mizuhara, who served as Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter until March 2024 when he was fired by the team for allegedly embezzling funds from Ohtani to cover gambling debts, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return. 

The two charges combined carry a maximum sentence of 33 years in federal prison. Mizuhara’s arraignment is scheduled for May 14.

“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “He 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.”

“Our joint investigation with Homeland Security Investigations clearly showed Mr. Mizuhara not only stole from Mr. Ohtani, but also that he lied to the IRS about his income,“ said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Mr. Mizuhara exploited his relationship with Mr. Ohtani to bankroll his own irresponsibility. In cases where we are able to identify them, we make every effort to make things right for victims, and this is one of those cases.”

According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara helped Ohtani set up a bank account for the ballplayer in March 2018. In September 2021, Mizuhara started placing bets on various sporting events with an illegal bookmaker not named in the agreement but reported elsewhere as Orange County (CA)-based Mathew Bowyer. Mizuhara quickly ran up massive debts. He arranged to cover them by first accessing the bank account he helped Ohtani set up, then modifying the account information so any inquiries about activity regarding it would be directed to him, not Ohtani.

Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani when the bank where the account was located attempted to contact Ohtani regarding different actions.

For example, on or about February 2, 2022, Bank A denied an attempted wire transfer. Defendant then called Bank A to complete the wire transfer. During the call, defendant falsely identified himself as Victim A (Ohtani) and falsely stated that he was attempting to wire funds to an associate of the bookmaker for a car loan. The bank employee attempted to verify the caller by sending a six-digit code via text message to the registered phone number on the (bank) Account. Because defendant had already changed the registered phone number on the account, the bank’s text message was sent to defendant. Defendant then read the six-digit code back to the Bank A employee and completed the wire transfer. In total, defendant called Bank A and impersonated Victim A (Ohtani) on approximately 24 occasions.

Mizuhara also charged $60K worth of dental work to Ohtani’s bank account after Ohtani had given him a separate check for the amount, depositing the check in his bank account for personal use. Mizuhara also purchased $325K of baseball cards, including Ohtani’s, from sellers such as eBay, using funds drawn from Ohtani’s bank account to resell them later.

Naturally, a story such as this will evoke gossip centered on Mizuhara taking the fall for Ohtani. That said, it is at best extremely difficult to envision this amount of evidence being detailed as part of a grand conspiracy on Ohtani’s behalf. The story does point out an uncomfortable truth in the modern sports era, that being the increasing alliance between sports and gambling. 

A prime example is how if you look up the April 17, 2024 news story on the NBA’s website regarding the league banning player Jontay Porter for gambling-related offenses, elsewhere on the site you can read NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: May 8. 

This case raises serious concerns about the integrity of sports and the potential for exploitation by the gambling industry. That said, as long as the money keeps coming, looking away will be standard operating procedure.