Ippei Mizuhara, baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, has taken a plea deal and has agreed to plead guilty to bank and tax fraud charges earlier this week.
Facing the Music
Speculation ran rampant early in the investigation that Ippei Mizuhara was simply covering for his wealthy boss regarding the millions of dollars that were sent to a Southern California bookmaker. However, it quickly became apparent that Shohei Ohtani had no knowledge of the reported $17 million that was siphoned out of his account and used to pay off a bookmaker by someone who was among his closest confidantes.
The judge who accepted Mizuhara’s plea asked him to describe precisely what happened, to which Mizuhara replied via a statement, “I worked for victim A (Ohtani) and had access to his bank account and had fallen into major gambling debt. I went ahead and wired money… with his bank account.”
The scam was kept hidden from Ohtani even as Mizuhara made over 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024 worth approximately $324 million resulting in a net loss of somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million. Mizuhara had established a bank account with Ohtani in 2018 but subsequently changed the email addresses and phone numbers associated with the account so he would be the only one receiving communication.
According to legal sources, Mizuhara could face a maximum sentence of 33 years and a $1.25 million fine on the bank and tax fraud charges. Sentencing will occur on October 25th of this year and once he finishes his sentence Mizuhara could be deported as he is not a U.S. citizen.
US attorney Martin Estrada on today’s guilty plea from Ippei Mizuhara … pic.twitter.com/YL1E7meOIk
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) June 4, 2024
MLB & Ohtani Prepared to Move On
Back in March, Ohtani said in a prepared statement that he was “very sad and shocked that someone who I’ve trusted has done this.”
“I do want to make it clear that I never bet on sports or have willfully sent money to a bookmaker,” he added. “He has been stealing money from my account and has been telling lies. All of this has been a complete lie.”
Shohei Ohtani’s full statement about Ippei Mizuhara and the gambling allegations pic.twitter.com/ENVDFFAnEp
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 25, 2024
Ohtani later confessed the ordeal had caused him to lose sleep, stating, “Initially I really didn’t have much sleep, obviously with the things that were happening,” Ohtani said through his current interpreter, Will Ireton. “But now I’ve been able to really have a pretty consistent routine, being able to sleep well. I think those are leading to good results.”
Once Ohtani became aware of Mizuhara’s guilty plea, he released the following statement:
“Now that the investigation has been completed, this full admission of guilt has brought important closure to me and my family,” Ohtani said. “I want to sincerely thank the authorities for finishing their thorough and effective investigation so quickly and uncovering all of the evidence.
“This has been a uniquely challenging time, so I am especially grateful for my support team – my family, agent, agency, lawyers, and advisers along with the entire Dodger organization, who showed endless support throughout this process.
“It’s time to close this chapter, move on, and continue to focus on playing and winning ballgames.”
Major League Baseball has also put their investigation to bed and exonerated the perennial All-Star from any wrongdoing, stating, “Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud. And this matter has been closed.”
