In a startling development involving baseball’s biggest global superstar, Shohei Ohtani‘s interpreter, training partner and constant companion was allegedly taking significant sums of money from him in an effort to settle gambling debts.
Ippei Mizuhara, who has been by the two-way superstar’s side since Ohtani’s Major League Baseball career began in 2018, was fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, just hours after Ohtani’s regular season debut with the club in Seoul.
Ohtani is beginning a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers after spending six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, during which he grossed nearly $40 million in salary and an endorsement income exceeding nine figures.
Yet the Los Angeles Times discovered that Ohtani’s name emerged in a federal investigation of an Orange County resident allegedly tied to illegal bookmaking, and Ohtani’s legal team investigated Mizuhara’s actions after learning of their client’s tie, the Times reported. Citing two sources seeking anonymity, the Times reported that the sum Mizuhara is accused of stealing was in the millions of dollars. ESPN reported that Mizuhara’s debts totaled at least $4.5 million.
“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,” Berk Brettler, LLP, the attorneys representing Ohtani, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports and other media outlets.
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In a pair of ESPN interviews conducted before and after news of the interpreter’s firing emerged, Mizuhara’s characterization of the flap – and that of Ohtani’s camp – shifted. Mizuhara initially said Ohtani agreed to pay off his debts – Mizuhara admitted to gambling on several sports, but not baseball – and that he’d promise to stop. But he declined comment after Berk Brettler’s statement framing Ohtani as a theft victim.
Ohtani, 29, and the Angels hired Mizuhara shortly after he signed with the club before the 2018 season. Ohtani has maintained a tight inner circle in his seven seasons in MLB, but Mizuhara was dutifully by his side – interpreting news conferences or mound visits and serving as wingman wherever Ohtani roamed in a ballpark.
After Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, Mizuhara joined them, as well, accompanying his countryman up the freeway from Anaheim to Los Angeles. Ohtani, with Mizuhara alongside in the dugout, made his Dodgers debut Wednesday in South Korea, singling twice in the club’s 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.
“The Dodgers are aware of media reports and are gathering information,” the team said in a statement. “The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated. The team has no further comment at this time.”
A person familiar with Major League Baseball’s thinking says the league is gathering information, has not been contacted by prosecutors and not currently investigating Ohtani. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Federal investigators have been conducting a sweeping probe of illegal bookmaking that stretches back more than a decade and ensnared former Dodgers star Yasiel Puig; former minor league pitcher Wayne Nix was at the center of one investigation and pleaded guilty in April 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business. The Times reported that the same investigative team pursuing Nix’s alleged network is also targeting Orange County resident Mathew Bowyer, the reported connection to Mizuhara.
ESPN interviewed Mizuhara Tuesday, during which he claimed he amassed significant gambling losses and that Ohtani was displeased, but offered to pay off his friend’s debt; Mizuhara said “I learned my lesson the hard way” and “will not do sports gambling again.” The outlet reviewed wire-transfer payments it said were from an Ohtani account to a Bowyer associate.
Wednesday, however, Mizuhara told ESPN Ohtani had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s gambling debt and did not transfer money on his behalf.
