Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal involving Ippei Mizuhara and Real Housewives star being turned into TV SERIES
- Ohtani and Mizuhara’s story will be turned into a scripted TV series
- Mizuhara faces more than 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud
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The ongoing saga of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara’s gambling debts will be televised.
Mizuhara recently pleaded guilty to bank fraud and signing a false tax return, which could land him in prison for more than 30 years after stealing $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star.
According to the Los Angeles TimesLionsgate Television is working on creating a scripted series based on the scandal.
This show follows the story of Ohtani and his rise to become one of the most popular baseball players in the world.
But much of the story will focus on the moment he heard the news that Mizuhara stole tens of millions to pay off his gambling debts.
That happened earlier this year and the Dodgers fired him after learning about the allegations.
A serial TV show about Shohei Ohtani and the gambling scandal involving his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, will be produced and released through Lionsgate Entertainment
Mizuhara faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years. He was released on a $25,000 bond
Mizuhara reportedly wired money to Real Housewives of Orange County star Ryan Boyajian
Mizuhara is expected to officially enter a guilty plea “in the coming weeks,” with his arraignment scheduled for May 14. The settlement says Mizuhara will be obligated to pay Ohtani restitution that could total nearly $17 million, as well as more than $1 million. to the tax authorities. These amounts may change prior to sentencing.
Mizuhara’s winning bets totaled more than $142 million, which he deposited into his own bank account instead of Ohtani’s.
However, his losing bets amounted to approximately $183 million, a net loss of almost $41 million. He didn’t bet on baseball.
Mizuhara helped Ohtani open a bank account in 2018 and began stealing money from that account in 2021, according to the settlement. At one point, Mizuhara changed the associated security protocols, email address and phone number so that calls went directly to him and not Ohtani when the rank and file tried to verify wire transfers. Under the agreement, Mizuhara admitted to impersonating Ohtani at the bank approximately 24 times.
Mizuhara also admitted to falsifying his 2022 tax returns, underreporting his income by more than $4 million.
On Wednesday it was revealed that Real Housewives star Ryan Boyajian was an employee of bookmaker Mathew Bowyer. Mizuhara would transfer money to Boyajian to pay off his debts.