Following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Opening Day win against the San Diego Padres in the Seoul Series, news broke that Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired for his reported involvement in illegal gambling activities.
Mizuhara, Ohtani’s close friend, is accused of stealing millions from the two-way superstar.
Mizuhara is said to have been tied to Southern California bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who has been under federal investigation. A series of wire transfers in Ohtani’s name have been reported, and Mizuhara’s claims were altered in multiple interviews with ESPN.
The last account from Mizuhara was that Ohtani wasn’t aware of the betting activity or subsequent debts. In the latest move, Ohtani and his attorneys requested that authorities launch an investigation into Mizuhara, per Tisha Thompson of ESPN:
Representatives of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani have contacted law enforcement authorities and asked them to investigate a “massive theft” of money from the player, a source with direct knowledge told ESPN on Thursday.
The source declined to say which agency had been contacted.
Ohtani played in the Seoul Series finale against the Padres on Thursday, but is yet to publicly comment on the scandal.
Some chatter over whether Ohtani could opt out of his current contract with the Dodgers sparked, but Mizuhara remaining with the organization was not included in the key-man clause.
Ohtani’s ability to opt out is tied to Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
Shohei Ohtani under investigation
On Friday afternoon, MLB announced an investigation was launched into Ohtani and Mizuhara over the alleged gambling.
MLB’s policy prohibits “any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee” from betting on baseball or making illegal bets involving other sports. Reported information thus far hasn’t shown any signs that Ohtani was the one behind any bets placed.
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