Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher and outfielder Shohei Ohtani, who allegedly stole more than $16 million to cover his gambling debts, surrendered to federal authorities Friday.
Mr. Mizuhara, 39, of Newport Beach, California, is charged with felony bank fraud, which has a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.
Mr. Mizuhara appeared in the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles for his initial appearance on Friday afternoon, where the judge ordered him to undergo gambling addiction treatment.
He was released on a $25,000 bond, and after the court appearance, his attorney, Michael G. Freedman, issued an apology on his behalf, reported the Associated Press.
Mr. Freedman’s statement stated that Mr. Mizuhara hopes to “reach an agreement with the government to resolve this case as quickly as possible so that he can take responsibility.”
He further added his client “wishes to apologize to Mr. Ohtani, the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and his family.”
Mr. Mizuhara has been scheduled to be arraigned on May 9.
“Our investigation has revealed that due to the position of trust he occupied with Mr. Ohtani, Mr. Mizuhara had unique access to Mr. Ohtani’s finances,” Mr. Estrada said.
“Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust in order to plunder Mr. Ohtani’s bank account,” he said.
Mr. Ohtani on Friday said he was “very grateful for the Department of Justice’s investigation.”
Over $16 Million ‘Unauthorized Transfers’
From November 2021 to January 2024, prosecutors said Mr. Mizuhara wired more than $16 million in unauthorized transfers from a checking account belonging to an MLB player initially identified in the affidavit as “Victim A,” who was later identified as Mr. Ohtani.The transfers from this bank account allegedly were made from devices and IP addresses associated with Mr. Mizuhara, who also served as Mr. Ohtani’s business manager.
In 2018, Mr. Mizuhara accompanied Mr. Ohtani, who didn’t speak English, to a bank branch in Arizona to assist in opening the account.
Mr. Ohtani’s salary from playing professional baseball was deposited into this account. However, Mr. Ohtani did not authorize Mr. Mizuhara’s control of any of his financial accounts, according to the affidavit.
Mr. Mizuhara allegedly told Mr. Ohtani’s U.S.-based financial professionals, none of whom spoke Japanese, that Mr. Ohtani denied them access to the account.
In September 2021, Mr. Mizuhara began gambling with an illegal sports book and was losing substantial sums of money, according to the affidavit. During this time, the contact information on Mr. Ohtani’s bank account was allegedly changed to link the account to Mr. Mizuhara’s phone number and an anonymous email address connected to Mr. Mizuhara.
Mr. Mizuhara allegedly also telephoned the bank and falsely identified himself as Mr. Ohtani to fleece bank employees into authorizing wire transfers from Mr. Ohtani’s bank account to associates of the illegal gambling operation.
From January 2024 to March 2024, Mr. Mizuhara allegedly used this same account to buy about 1,000 baseball cards for roughly $325,000 through eBay and Whatnot. He had them mailed to himself under an alias, “Jay Min,” and mailed to the clubhouse for Mr. Ohtani’s current MLB team.
Mr. Ohtani has denied authorizing Mr. Mizuhara’s wire transfers in an interview with law enforcement officers, who determined that there was no evidence to suggest that he was aware of Mr. Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity or payment of those debts. Mr. Ohtani also provided his cell phone to law enforcement officials.
Major League Baseball is staying abreast of the situation.
“According to that investigation, Shohei Ohtani is considered a victim of fraud and there is no evidence that he authorized betting with an illegal bookmaker. Further, the investigation did not find any betting on baseball by Mr. Mizuhara. Given the information disclosed today, and other information we have already collected, we will wait until resolution of the criminal proceeding to determine whether further investigation is warranted.”
In addition, the IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jeff Mitchell of the Major Frauds Section, Dan Boyle of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section, and Rachel N. Agress of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section are prosecuting this case.
“We will prosecute the case wherever it goes,” Mr. Estrada said. “Whether Mr. Mizuhara admits his guilt or whether he decides to contest his guilt, we will follow it where the law appropriately leads us.”
