The Los Angeles Dodgers began their 2024 season in Seoul, South Korea, against the San Diego Padres on March 20, and it also marked the start of an ongoing legal saga tied to Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
After the game, Mizuhara addressed the Dodgers’ clubhouse to apologize to the team and tell them about his gambling addiction. The following day, Mizuhara was fired and reports that Ohtani’s representatives contacted law enforcement over “massive theft” of money began to surface.
Mizuhara was accused of stealing $4.5 million from Ohtani to pay his gambling debts, which took place over a few years. According to a representative for Ohtani, the two-way superstar found out about the missing money for the first time on Wednesday, via Tisha Thompson of ESPN:
According to the Ohtani spokesman, Ohtani discovers for the first time Wednesday that money is missing from his account.
During his speech to the clubhouse, Mizuhara cleared Ohtani and took full responsibility for his actions, but not all his statements appeared to be truthful. Ohtani began asking questions about what had been said in the clubhouse, and he did not recognize Mizuhara’s version of the events.
Ohtani continued to rely on Mizuhara to communicate the situation, but he did not tell the full story of what was going on, according to Ohtani’s representatives. A spokesperson for Ohtani also has claimed the 29-year-old was unaware of any gambling or debts owed by Mizuhara.
Mizuhara is now under criminal investigation by the IRS, and MLB launched their own inquiry into the matter as illegal sports betting is against league policy from “any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee.”
Ohtani is remaining on the Dodgers active roster during the investigation. If it’s determined he was tied to the bets, there would likely be repercussions, but as of this moment, Ohtani appears to be a victim of the situation, rather than being part of the crimes.
Did Shoei Ohtani’s former interpreter lie about graduating UC Riverside?
According to public bios, Mizuhara graduated from Diamond Bar High School in 2003 and graduated from University of California, Riverside, in 2007.
However, UC Riverside has refuted the notion that Mizuhara graduated from the university, much less that he was even a student. The Boston Red Sox have also disputed a fact found in Mizuhara’s public biography of having worked for the team as an interpreter for Hideki Okajima.
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