Ohtani’s Interpreter Stole $16

 

Prosecutors Say Ohtani’s Interpreter Stole $16 Million From Star

The interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was charged with bank fraud, after prosecutors said he stole money to pay his gambling debts.

A close-up of Ippei Mizuhara, next to Shohei Ohtani, for whom he is an interpreter.Prosecutors said that the money taken by Ippei Mizuhara, left, came directly from an account where Shohei Ohtani’s baseball salary was paid.Richard Vogel/Associated Press

Federal prosecutors said on Thursday that Shohei Ohtani had been the victim of a “fraud on a massive scale,” releasing a detailed complaint that claimed Ippei Mizuhara, the baseball star’s former interpreter, exploited his access and the fact that Ohtani did not speak English to steal $16 million from him to feed his gambling addiction.

The account provided by the authorities largely confirms what Ohtani told the public in late March, shortly after reports first surfaced that $4.5 million had been transferred from Ohtani’s account to Mizuhara. At that time, Ohtani explained how he believed Mizuhara had stolen money from him and that he did not bet on sports himself.

And authorities acknowledged that the speed at which the investigation proceeded — the allegations against Mizuhara surfaced only three weeks ago — was partly because of the desire to avoid having American sports tarred by the implication of a possible gambling scandal involving one of its biggest stars.

“I want to emphasize this point,” said E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case.”

The case is a very public example of the fine line sports leagues are walking in regard to sports gambling. Professional leagues resisted any association with gambling for decades, but that has changed since a Supreme Court ruling six years ago led to 38 states now allowing legalized gambling on sports. (California is not one of them.)

Now leagues are taking millions of dollars from casinos and sports books, and advertisements from sports gambling companies are ubiquitous in stadiums and on game broadcasts. Still, the leagues worry about protecting the integrity of their games, and the perception that players wagering on games would affect their performances. Therefore, players are not allowed to bet on their sports or, in some cases, any sports.

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