Ippei Mizuhara allegedly stole over $16 million from Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to cover millions of dollars of gambling debts .
The office, which filed a criminal complaint against Mizuhara on Thursday, also said Ohtani had no knowledge of the fraud and is considered a victim in the case.Mizuhara had been Ohtani's translator for years. Over that time, the attorney's office discovered that Mizuhara had full access to Ohtani's bank accounts. Phone records indicate he accessed them online and lied to the bank pretending to be Ohtani, the office said.
While sports gambling is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., it's illegal in California, which has driven some bettors to illegal operations. By November 2023, Mizuhara's debts had become crippling. He messaged the same bookmaker saying he ended up losing a lot of money on crypto investments in the last couple of years and took huge hits with the sports betting, too.
Ohtani told officials he believed his accountants and financial advisors were monitoring his accounts and because he received income from both foreign and domestic sources, he would generally not ask about specific accounts, but rather, an overall picture of his investment profile. Yet, due to the language barrier, financial agents and advisors communicated through Mizuhara to translate to their client.
Translator Theft Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani Gambling Debts Fraud Victim
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