MLB on Friday began a proper investigation into gambling allegations against Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime translator for Shohei Ohtani, who was fired this week by the Los Angeles Dodgers amid conflicting reports about money paid for gambling debts.
Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office said in a press release that the league had begun a proper process through its criminal investigations division. “Major League Baseball has been collecting information since we learned of the allegations,” the statement read.
The messy story first became public on Wednesday night, when Ohtani and the Dodgers – together with Mizuhara – traveled to Seoul for his or her season opener against the San Diego Padres.
ESPN reported that Ohtani’s lawyers alleged that he was the victim of “massive theft,” but only after Mizuhara and an Ohtani spokesman initially claimed that Ohtani had voluntarily repaid Mizuhara’s gambling losses of a minimum of $4.5 million.
Ohtani was not charged with betting. An individual briefed on the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Athletic on Friday that Ohtani was not placed on leave given the circumstances known on the time the investigation was initiated.
According to ESPN, Mizuhara said he went into a frenzy and asked Ohtani for help paying off his debts, then worked with Ohtani to wire the cash to a bookmaker who allowed bets to be placed on credit. However, shortly after Mizuhara spoke to ESPN, Ohtani’s spokesman retracted the account and said Ohtani was unaware of Mizuhara’s gambling activities.
– the Associated Press reported on Friday that the IRS was investigating Mizuhara. Ohtani’s representatives told ESPN they’ve referred the case to law enforcement but declined to say which agency.
ESPN has released its reporting schedule on Friday, providing more details in regards to the evolving relationship between Mizuhara, Ohtani’s spokesman and the superstar’s lawyers.
Ohtani’s crisis communications specialist, whose name was not released by ESPN, told the agency that Mizuhara used his role as a translator to regulate communications to and from Ohtani, leading to inconsistent accounts of the situation.
ESPN said it contacted Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, and provided evidence of Ohtani’s bank transfers on Monday afternoon (early Tuesday morning in Seoul). Within hours, the newly hired crisis communications manager responded to ESPN and later stated that Ohtani had paid off Mizuhara’s gambling debts.
A spokesperson provided ESPN with a quote from Ohtani: “Yes, I sent several large payments. This is the maximum amount I can send.”
Mizuhara told ESPN in an interview Tuesday night that he met Mathew Bowyer, a bookmaker currently under federal investigation, while playing poker in San Diego in 2021. David Fletcher, a Braves reliever who played with Ohtani on the Los Angeles Angels, was in attendance in the course of the game.
Fletcher told ESPN he had never bet with Bowyer, but they’d met once while playing golf. Bowyer was reportedly introduced to the sport by one other friend of Fletcher’s.
Mizuhara told ESPN that it was after this meeting that he began placing bets with Bowyer. By the top of 2022, Mizuhara had lost $1 million and was asking other people in his life for financial help. He said his annual salary with the Angels was $85,000 on the time.
“I couldn’t share it with Shohei. It was difficult for me to make ends meet. I went from paycheck to paycheck,” Mizuhara said. “Because I kind of had to keep up with his lifestyle. But at the same time, I didn’t want to tell him that.
Mizuhara said he finally went to Ohtani as his losses mounted. Ohtani agreed to pay off the debts and neither of them considered whether their actions might be illegal because they sent several wire transfers together, ESPN reports.
After the Dodgers’ season-opening victory in Seoul, Mizuhara and team owner Mark Walter discussed the situation with the team before the news was made public. Ohtani’s spokesman told ESPN that it was only at that point that Ohtani realized something was wrong. Shortly thereafter, he allegedly realized that money was missing from his bank account. Mizuhara was subsequently released by the Dodgers.
Before being fired, Mizuhara told ESPN that he lied in his first interview. He stated that he was not paid to take the blame and change his history without coercion. However, Mizuhara denied that he used his position as a translator to misrepresent communications to and from Ohtani.
Mizuhara said he never bet on baseball and that Ohtani was not involved in gambling.
“He sees people and his teammates gambling all the time, so he thinks, ‘Why do they do that?’ “Gambling is not good,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “He made comments like that. People asked him to go to casinos on road trips, and he never agreed. No, he is not thinking about that.
