Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that Shohei Ohtani was the victim of a “large-scale fraud,” issuing a detailed complaint alleging that Ippei Mizuhara, the baseball star’s former interpreter, exploited Shohei Ohtani’s access and the fact that Ohtani did not speak English. . He stole $16 million from him to feed his gambling addiction.
The accounts provided by authorities confirm much of what Ohtani told the public in late March, shortly after reports first emerged that $4.5 million had been transferred from Otani’s account to Mizuhara’s. At the time, Otani believed Mizuhara had stolen money from him, and he explained that he never bet on sports.
And authorities acknowledge that the speed with which the investigation has progressed (the allegations against Mizuhara surfaced just three weeks ago) are partly due to a desire to avoid American sports being tarred over a gambling scandal involving one of its biggest stars. I did.
“I want to emphasize this point,” said E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. He said, “Mr. Ohtani is considered the victim in this case.”
This incident is a very public example of the fine line sports leagues are walking when it comes to sports betting. Professional leagues have denied any connection to gambling for decades, but that has changed since a Supreme Court ruling six years ago legalized sports betting in 38 states. (California is not one of them.)
Now the league is taking millions of dollars from casinos and sports books, and advertisements from sports betting companies can be seen everywhere in stadiums and on game broadcasts. Nonetheless, the league is concerned about protecting the integrity of the game and players’ perception that betting on a game will affect their performance. Therefore, players cannot bet on their own sports or, in some cases, on any sports.
Baseball has had several notable gambling scandals throughout history, including Pete Rose in the late ’80s and the Chicago Black Sox in 1919, making the situation particularly sensitive.
Tyler Hatcher, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, who worked on the case, said it is a federal priority to “protect sports at the highest level.”
Estrada said the investigation moved very quickly because of high public interest and questions swirling about Ohtani’s connection to the case. Ohtani, 29, has been attracting major league attention since moving to the United States from his native Japan in 2018. He displays power on both balls and hits, drawing comparisons to great players like Babe Ruth. He won two MVP awards in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Anticipation surrounding Ohtani has become more intense since he signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers last December. Allegations that Mizuhara stole money from Ohtani surfaced last month when Ohtani and the Dodgers were in Seoul to open the season against the San Diego Padres.
Estrada suggested the government marshal more resources for the case because of its high-profile nature.
Prosecutors presented evidence against Mizuhara in an extensive 37-page complaint that revealed a significant amount of detail about Mizuhara’s betting habits, his relationship with Otani, and how Mizuhara implicated him. According to Daniel C. Richman, in high-profile cases like this, prosecutors sometimes use a complaint instead of an indictment because it places more restrictions on what the prosecutor can say in the indictment. Because it allows authorities to know more about the results of their investigation. Columbia University law professor and former federal prosecutor.
Otani and Mizuhara’s relationship goes back to Otani’s days playing in Japan. He joined Ohtani when he began playing for the Angels, and the two were close, with Mizuhara acting as his interpreter and confidant personal assistant.
Authorities said the money Mizuhara received from Ohtani came directly from the account where Ohtani’s baseball salary is paid. There is no evidence that Mizuhara used the money to bet with illegal bookmakers, they said, but there is no evidence that Mizuhara bet on baseball and that Ohtani knew about it. The bookmaker is also the subject of a federal investigation, authorities said.
“There is no indication that Mr. Otani authorized $16 million from his account to the bookmakers,” Estrada said.
Authorities charged Mizuhara with bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The complaint includes a message from Mizuhara admitting to a bookmaker that he stole money from Ohtani.
The release of the complaint comes a day after The New York Times reported that Mizuhara’s lawyers and federal prosecutors were in plea negotiations, that Ohtani had been interviewed by authorities, and that prosecutors had uncovered evidence that Mizuhara stole more than the $4.5 million initially reported. It came out after a long time. He is accused of taking it.
Mizuhara is scheduled to make her first court appearance Friday in federal court in Los Angeles. He will not be asked to enter a plea and is expected to be released without bail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Estrada said Mizuhara took money from Ohtani’s account to place bets, but on the rare occasions when he won, he transferred the winnings to another account. Authorities said they obtained recordings of phone calls between Mizuhara and the bank where Otani’s account was held, in which Mizuhara pretended to be Ohtani.
Among the messages contained in the complaint was a conversation Mizuhara had with a person who had placed a bet.
“Have you seen the report?” Mizuhara wrote to the bookmaker after the article was published in March.
The bookmaker responded in part: “Obviously you didn’t steal anything from him. I understand and completely understand that it is an undercover operation.”
“Technically, I stole something from that person,” Mizuhara said. “For me, it’s all over.”
