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