Shohei Ohtani\'s Interpreter Stole $16M, Accumulated $40.7M Net Loss

[RealGM Wiretap]

Ippei Mizuhara allegedly stole $16 million over two years from Shohei Ohtani in order to pay off gambling debts. Mizuhara is a longtime interpreter and friend to Ohtani.

Ohtani, referred to in the complaint only as a \"professional baseball player,\" told authorities that he did not authorize the transfers.

Text messages showed that Mizuhara began gambling in September 2021 and began losing \"substantial sums of money\" later that year. Bank records also show that the phone number and email address on the account were changed to those associated with Mizuhara.

Investigators also relied on recorded phone calls from the bank in which Mizuhara falsely identified himself as Ohtani to \"trick and deceive\" bank employees into authorizing the transfers.

Mizuhara said he never bet on baseball. Mizuhara allegedly lost bets of nearly $183 million while winning bets of more than $142 million with a net loss of $40.7 million.

Concurrently, attorneys for Ohtani alleged that he had been the victim of a \"massive theft.\"

Via Alden Gonzalez, Paula Lavigne/ESPN

[Future Coach]

I get that Ohtani doesn't speak/read English.

But numbers are universal. That means he either: (1) Was knowledgeable/aware of the transfers moving of his account, or (2) was not knowledgeable of the transfers because he is so out of touch with his finances that he doesn't even look at his account.

While he's super wealthy and doesn't really need to check if he can afford most things, given that he was seemingly aware enough of his finances to defer his huge Dodgers contract for years, I hesitate buying the story he was completely unaware of these transfers. But hey, maybe he is a lot dumber and more oblivious than he seems.

[TheCage4]

How the hell do you not know that money is being moved or missing? Yes, we are pee-on's in comparison to someone of Ohtani's stature, but I know when my account is off by a few cents, let alone a few dollars.

There's more to this story, but MLB would never let that come to light.

[madmaxmedia]

Outside of Ohtani's role, WTF is going on with an interpreter who loses over $40M betting on sports???

[Bricks]

Ohtani probably hasn’t thought or worried about money for a long time, he just points at something and buys it. I’m guessing even as a teenager he probably never worried about money, it might be plausible that he doesn’t even know how much money he has in his bank.