Shohei Ohtani's interpreter fired over “massive theft”

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The Los Angeles Dodgers have fired Shohei Ohtani's interpreter and close friend after the player's attorneys alleged "massive theft" from the Japanese baseball star in a case tied to sports gambling.

The Dodgers said in a statement Wednesday that Ippei Mizuhara — who has been a constant presence at Ohtani's side since the two-way star's move to the U.S. — was no longer working with the team.

"The Dodgers are aware of media reports and are gathering information. The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated. The team has no further comment at this time," the statement said. It followed reports from The Los Angeles Times and ESPN.

Attorneys for Ohtani at the law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement: "In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities."

ESPN reported Wednesday night, citing multiple unnamed sources, that Mizuhara's firing came after media questions about his alleged ties to illegal gambling. ESPN reported that the allegations centered on wire transfers from Ohtani's account worth at least $4.5 million, allegedly paid to a bookmaking operation in Southern California that is under federal investigation.

ESPN reported that a spokesman for Ohtani first said that the player had knowingly transferred the funds to cover the gambling debt of Mizuhara, Ohtani's long-term friend and associate.

The same spokesman organized a 90-minute interview between Mizuhara and ESPN on Tuesday night, where Mizuhara explained his side of the story.

He told ESPN that he had incurred the debts betting on the NBA, the NFL, college football and international soccer but never on baseball, which is prohibited by MLB rules.

“Obviously, he [Ohtani] wasn’t happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again,” Mizuhara said. “He decided to pay it off for me."

“I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again,” he told ESPN.

However, ESPN said that as it prepared to publish its story Wednesday, the spokesman for Ohtani disavowed Mizuhara’s account and said the player’s lawyers would issue a statement.

ESPN reported that Mizuhara then changed his story Wednesday, saying that Ohtani in fact had no knowledge of his gambling debts and Ohtani had not transferred money to the bookmaker’s associate. ESPN reported that Mizuhara said he had been told not to comment on whether he had been accused of theft by Ohtani but declined to say by whom.

The former translator for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has agreed to plead guilty to illegally transferring $17 million out of Ohtani's account without his knowledge, authorities said Wednesday.

Ippei Mizuhara, 39, will plead guilty to single counts of bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return, according to federal prosecutors in Southern California.

“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “He took advantage of his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit."

Mizuhara was an employee of Ohtani's former team, the Los Angeles Angels, but Ohtani "paid him separately for the additional work of driving him to meetings and interpreting for non-baseball-related activities," prosecutors said.

Mizuhara began making bets with an illegal bookmaker in September 2021, authorities said, losing wagers and running up a massive bill.

Unable to pay his gambling debts, Mizuhara orchestrated a scheme to deceive and cheat the bank to fraudulently obtain money from" Ohtani's account, prosecutors said in a statement.

Mizuhara used Ohtani’s password to get to his bank account, without his knowledge or permission, prosecutors said.

Specifically, Mizuhara changed the registered email address and telephone number on the account so bank employees would call him — not Ohtani — when attempting to verify wire transfers from the account," federal authorities said.

Mizuhara even "impersonated Ohtani" and used his "personal identifying information to deceive the bank’s employees" to make wire transfers, authorities said. He called the bank about 24 times pretending to be Ohtani, officials alleged.

An attorney for Mizuhara said they had no further comment. A representative for Ohtani had no immediate comment Wednesday.

Mizuhara is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

There were a variety of frauds, according to the prosecutor’s office.

In a case in June, Mizuhara transferred $500,000 from Ohtani’s account to an associate of the bookmaker, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement.

In September, Mizuhara needed $60,000 worth of dental work, and Ohtani agreed to pay for it with a check — but when it came time to pay the dentist, Mizuhara used Ohtani’s debit card account and kept the money from the check for himself, the office said.

Mizuhara also stole $325,000 from Ohtani’s account to buy baseball cards over three months this year, and his plan was to resell them for a profit, it said.