Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged the Japanese-language translator for Shohei Ohtani with felony bank fraud, accusing Ippei Mizuhara of stealing millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to cover his own gambling debts.
According to an affidavit provided to HuffPost, Mizuhara transferred more than $16 million out of Ohtani’s checking account from November 2021 to January 2024, directing the funds to an illegal sports gambling operation.
Mizuhara helped Ohtani set up the bank account in 2018 but was never authorized to manage any aspect of the player’s finances. In late 2021, he began losing what prosecutors describe as “substantial sums of money” on gambling.
During that time, recorded calls and bank records show the translator changed the contact information linked to Ohtani’s bank account to his own phone number and an anonymous email address that he controlled, prosecutors allege.
He then accessed the account and authorized numerous wire transfers, some as large as $500,000. According to the affidavit, Mizuhara transferred any winnings to his personal account.
In addition to using Ohtani’s funds to cover his gambling debts, the 39-year-old also purchased $325,000 worth of baseball cards with the funds, according to the affidavit.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in Los Angeles said Thursday that Mizuhara “used and abused” his position of trust with Ohtani “to plunder Mr. Ohtani’s bank account.”
“I want to emphasize this point: Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case,” Estrada said.
Ohtani has denied any knowledge of his translator’s gambling or the wire transfers.
“I am very saddened and shocked someone whom I trusted has done this,” Ohtani said through a new translator at a March 25 news conference. “I never bet on sports or have willfully sent money to the bookmaker.”
The pitcher and slugger signed a record-setting $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers last December after earning nearly $43 million in six seasons playing for the Los Angeles Angels. Mizuhara became Ohtani’s interpreter in 2017, when he joined the Angels.