Fired Shohei Ohtani translator Ippei Mizuhara has surrendered to police and is now in federal custody.
Mizuhara will appear in court in Los Angeles on Friday at 1 p.m. local time. It is expected that he will be released on bail at some point.
Federal authorities on Thursday charged the former interpreter for the Los Angeles Dodgers star with federal bank fraud, alleging he stole more than $16 million from the Japanese sensation to cover gambling bets and debts.
Mizuhara, a constant presence alongside Ohtani in baseball stadiums across the country since 2018, abused the two-way player’s trust in him and took advantage of the language barrier to plunder a bank account that only he had access to, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Mizuhara was so intertwined with Ohtani’s life and career that he became the star’s “de facto manager.” This role allowed him to withdraw money from the account – sometimes lying and posing as Ohtani to bank employees – to finance his “insatiable appetite for illegal sports betting.”
Fired Shohei Ohtani translator Ippei Mizuhara (left) has surrendered to police
Thursday’s announcement, at a packed news conference in downtown Los Angeles, ended weeks of speculation about Mizuhara’s self-admitted gambling problems, the extensive federal investigation and Ohtani’s role in the scandal.
Estrada said there is no evidence Ohtani was aware of his interpreter’s actions, adding that Ohtani has cooperated with investigators.
“I want to emphasize this point: Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case,” he said.
The indictment — which detailed the scheme through text messages, financial records and phone call recordings — showed that even Mizuhara knew the game was over. In a message to his illegal bookmaker on March 20, the day the Los Angeles Times and ESPN broke news of the investigation, he wrote: “Technically, I stole from him. for me it’s all over.’
Mizuhara faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of a single charge of bank fraud. His attorney, Michael G. Freedman, declined to comment Thursday. Mizuhara’s first appearance in federal court will likely take place this week.
Ohtani’s translator Ippei Mizuhara (left) is expected to be charged with theft from Ohtani
The magnitude of the theft shocked the sports community, but also further absolved Ohtani of wrongdoing in baseball’s biggest gambling scandal since Pete Rose was banned for life. Major League Baseball opened its own investigation after the controversy surfaced last month, and the Dodgers immediately fired Mizuhara.
“Given the information disclosed (Thursday) and other information we have already gathered, we will wait until the criminal proceedings are completed to determine whether further investigation is warranted,” MLB said in a statement.
MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from betting on baseball – even legally. MLB also prohibits betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.
Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels in December to sign a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers. Ohtani and Mizuhara have been everyday companions since Ohtani joined the Angels in 2018. Ohtani’s baseball salaries prior to the Dodgers deal totaled about $40 million, although he is also expected to make tens of millions annually from endorsements.
Shohei Ohtani will be officially cleared of any wrongdoing in his gambling investigation
Federal investigators say Mizuhara made about 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024 — an average of nearly 25 bets per day. The stakes ranged from about $10 to $160,000 per bet, with an average of about $12,800. Estrada said investigators have not found any evidence that Mizuhara had bet on baseball.
While Mizuhara’s winning bets totaled more than $142 million, which he deposited into his own bank account and not Ohtani’s, his losing bets totaled about $183 million – a net loss of almost $41 million.
At one point, the bookmaker was unable to reach Mizuhara and threatened to approach Ohtani, identified as Victim A in the indictment.
‘Hey Ippie, it’s Friday 2 p.m. I don’t know why you’re not answering my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (Victim A) walking his dog,” the bookmaker wrote to Mizuhara on November 17, 2023. “I just go over and talk to him and ask how I can get in.” contact you because you are not responding? Please call me back immediately.”
The alleged fraud also included the lucrative memorabilia market. Investigators seized about 1,000 collectible baseball cards, including from players like Yogi Berra, and discovered about $325,000 in transactions with online retailers between January and March. Authorities believe Mizuhara purchased the cards from the sites with the intention of reselling them later.
There are suggestions that Mizuhara stole more than the initially reported $4.5 million from Ohtani – who he also worked with at the Angels – to cover illegal gambling debts.
Conflicting reports flooded the start of the baseball season last month, prompting a swift move to file charges.
“We understood there was a significant amount of public interest in this case,” Estrada said.
Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani had paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football.
But ESPN said Mizuhara changed his story the next day, saying Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.
Ohtani said he first became aware of Mizuhara’s gambling problem during a team meeting following the Dodgers’ March 20 victory over the San Diego Padres in Seoul in the MLB’s first game in South Korea. The LA Times and ESPN published their stories hours later.
Ohtani played for the Dodgers earlier on Wednesday in their 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins
Five days later, Ohtani told a news conference at Dodger Stadium that he had never bet on sports and never knowingly paid any gambling debts accrued by his interpreter. He placed responsibility squarely on Mizuhara and refuted the interpreter’s inconsistent stories about whether Ohtani had paid off Mizuhara’s gambling debts.
“I am very saddened and shocked that someone I trusted did this,” the Japanese star said through a new interpreter.
“Ippei stole money from my account and told lies,” Ohtani said. ‘I never bet on sports and have never sent money to the bookmaker.’
According to the indictment, the Mizuhara case arose from a broader investigation into illegal sportsbookmaking organizations operating in Southern California and the laundering of proceeds through Las Vegas casinos.
“To date, these investigations have resulted in criminal charges and/or convictions of twelve criminal defendants and one money service company, as well as non-prosecution agreements with two Las Vegas casinos,” the complaint said. “The investigations are ongoing and have multiple targets, not all of which are related.”