Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal: Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara pleads guilty, faces up to 33 years in prison

Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges on Tuesday morning. He faces a maximum penalty of 33 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1,250,000 fine and will be sentenced on October 25. according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. Mizuhara did not answer questions after leaving the courtroom.

Mizuhara’s charges stemmed from the gambling scandal in which he was accused of stealing nearly $17 million from the baseball player and using it to place illegal bets, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced on Aug. 8. May.

Mizuhara, described by prosecutors as Ohtani’s “de facto manager,” pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.

The 39-year-old former performer will be required to pay full restitution to his victims, which includes $16,975,010 to Victim A, Ohtani, and $1,149,400 to the IRS.

“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is enormous,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “He took advantage of his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit. My office is committed to vindicating victims throughout our community and ensuring that offenders face justice.”

Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement that Mizuhara “exploited his relationship with Mr. Ohtani to fund his own irresponsibility.”

News of the fraud involving Ohtani broke in March as the Dodgers opened the 2024 MLB season in South Korea, and in the following weeks we learned that Ohtani was the victim. Mizuhara accumulated tens of millions of dollars in gambling debts with an illegal gambling house and funneled the money through casinos. He made illicit withdrawals from Ohtani’s bank accounts, including posing as Ohtani on the phone with the bank, and having access to all relevant passwords and codes.

More, from the press release:

As part of his professional duties, Mizuhara regularly interacted with Ohtani’s sports agents and financial advisors – who did not speak Japanese – on behalf of Ohtani, who did not speak English. Although Mizuhara was an employee of the Los Angeles Angels MLB team, for which Ohtani played from 2018 to 2023, and later the Los Angeles Dodgers, for which Ohtani has played since 2024, Ohtani paid him separately for the additional work of driving him to meetings and interpretation for non-baseball activities.

Mizuhara’s gambling activities appeared to have begun in September 2021 and continued until March 2024. According to prosecutors, after going to a Phoenix bank with Ohtani to open a bank account, Mizuhara changed the account’s security protocols. so that bank employees would call him, rather than Ohtani, with any questions. Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani in calls to bank employees at least 24 times, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

“When Ohtani’s sports agent and financial advisors asked Mizuhara for access to the bank account, Mizuhara lied and said that Ohtani did not want them to access the account because it was private,” the DOJ said in a press release. “In fact, Mizuhara did not want them to know that he was stealing from Ohtani and fraudulently obtained more than $16,975,010 from him.”

In addition to the millions diverted from Ohtani’s account to pay off gambling debts, Mizuhara also purchased $325,000 worth of baseball cards from eBay and other online retailers to sell them for a profit. In September 2023, Ohtani agreed to pay for Mizuhara’s $60,000 dental treatment and provided him with a check. Instead, prosecutors say, Mizuhara paid the bill with Ohtani’s debit card and deposited the check into his personal account.

Mizuhara also admitted to falsely reporting his taxable income on his 2022 IRS tax returns, resulting in the tax fraud charge. According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara falsely claimed he was single when he was actually married and failed to report additional income of $4,100,000 that year.