Summary

Shohei Ohtani's longtime personal interpreter and confidant, Ippei Mizuhara, has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from the baseball superstar to fund a gambling addiction and pay off debts to an illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara essentially served as Ohtani's assistant, privy to intimate details of his life, until revelations about suspicious financial transactions raised questions over Ohtani's potential knowledge. The Los Angeles Dodgers swiftly fired Mizuhara, while the scope of his misdeeds and Ohtani's purported involvement remain under investigation. This shocking betrayal has tarnished Ohtani's image and exposed vulnerabilities around professional athletes despite gambling prohibitions.

For those who read...

In shocking news, Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani has been victimized by one of his closest friends and personal interpreters, Ippei Mizuhara, in a horrendous theft of over 7 figures from Ohtani's income.

Ohtani and the perpetrator's relationship started all the way back in the mid-2010s, when the two were both members of Ohtani's Japanese baseball team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham-Fighters. At the time, Ippei Mizuhara was the interpreter for the team and formed a special bond with Ohtani. When Ohtani was asked to join the Los Angeles Angels, he brought Mizuhara with him to become the team  interpreter since Ohtani wasn't proficient enough in English.

As the two spent more and more time together, they became inseparable and close friends outside of just the workplace. And since the MLB requires a full-time interpreter for each team, with members of non-English speaking countries typically making up over 30% of the league, this allowed Mizuhara to be by Ohtani's side no matter where they were.

Mizuhara went far beyond just interpreting for Ohtani, effectively becoming his personal assistant who knew everything about him. He carried Ohtani's belongings, played catch with him before games, and was constantly by his side, even in the locker room. During the 2022 MLB lockout, Mizuhara quit the Los Angeles Angels to work solely for Ohtani personally. Their relationship seemed ideal until recent revelations about Mizuhara's ties to an illegal gambling operation.

Reports have surfaced about Mizuhara's involvement as a client of an illegal bookmaker, Matthew Bowyer, who is under federal investigation. This came after a $4.5 million wire transfer from Ohtani's bank account to Bowyer's operation. Initially, Ohtani's spokesperson claimed the funds were to cover Mizuhara's gambling debts, but later disavowed Mizuhara's account after he gave an interview with more details. Though the full amount is unknown, evidence prompted Ohtanei’s new team, the Los Angeles Dodgers to fire Mizuhara for allegedly stealing millions from Ohtani to place bets illegally in California, where sports betting remains prohibited.

Sources have claimed that Bowyer acknowledged that Mizuhara was placing bets on international soccer matches and other sports, but not baseball, starting in 2021. It is noted that Bowyer knew that Ohtani's name would come through on the wire transfers, but never asked any questions, even though he knew it was illegal for professional baseball players to gamble.

The case has raised questions about Ohtani's potential involvement or prior knowledge of Mizuhara's gambling activities. As Mizuhara claimed Ohtani was helping him out of a desperate financial situation, he has since gone back on his word, asserting Ohtani was unaware of his gambling debts. As the investigation unfolds, scrutiny intensifies on this devolved relationship between the once inseparable pair and whether the baseball icon had any inkling of his interpreter's illicit actions.

Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani's interpreter amid allegation of 'massive theft' | ESPN

Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara amid ‘massive theft’ allegations | The Athletic