Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2024 MLB season with World Series or bust expectations following an offseason that saw the team spend more than $1 billion.
While the season was just getting underway, the Dodgers and Ohtani were blindsided by a betting scandal with Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, at its center.
The story has come a long way since then, with both a federal investigation and an investigation by MLB announced and now completed. The federal investigation was the first one to be concluded, and it uncovered enough evidence to charge Mizuhara with bank fraud and tax fraud charges.
MLB’s investigation was still underway in the background as the U.S. government concluded their own, but on Tuesday the case was officially closed.
MLB concurred with the findings of the federal investigation and announced that they too believed that Ohtani was a victim of theft and was not involved in any way with sports betting with Mizuhara.
With Tuesday’s announcement, Ohtani is cleared of any wrongdoing in the eyes of multiple federal government agencies and MLB, so the whole situation can now be put to rest. The conclusion of both investigations has given Ohtani closure, and he is now looking forward to focusing his full attention on the season and helping the Dodgers win ballgames.
“Now that the investigation has been completed, this full admission of guilt has brought important closure to me and my family. 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 l am especially grateful for my support team – my family, agent, agency, lawyers, and advisors 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.”
Mizuhara’s formal guilty plea to the charges of bank fraud and tax fraud could leave him facing up to 33 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25, 2024 at 2 p.m. PT.
Shohei Ohtani lost sleep because of Ippei Mizuhara scandal
Ohtani has maintained his privacy in public during the Ippei Mizuhara gambling scandal, and he seemed to be handling it as well as anyone possibly could, but in private, it had been causing him some distress as the situation first came to light.
It got to the point where he even had trouble sleeping with all the thoughts that must have been going on inside his head. Ohtani’s troubles improved as the truth began to be uncovered and his name was cleared. His full exoneration from MLB and the federal agencies will hopefully allow him to close this difficult chapter in his life.
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