Baseball star Ohtani's ex-interpreter pleads guilty to bank fraud
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[June 05, 2024]
By Michael Blake and Brad Brooks
SANTA ANA, California (Reuters) -Japanese baseball great Shohei
Ohtani's former interpreter pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing
nearly $17 million from the athlete's bank account to pay off his
own gambling debts, according to U.S. prosecutors.
Ippei Mizuhara, the onetime translator and de facto manager of the
Los Angeles Dodgers' power-hitting pitcher, pleaded guilty in a deal
that had been announced last month, a U.S. Attorney spokesperson
said. Sentencing will be on Oct. 25.
Mizuhara's lawyer declined to comment.
"The fraud was deep and the fraud was extensive," U.S. Attorney
Martin Estrada said at a press conference after Mizuhara's plea.
A 33-page record of the deal, in which Mizuhara, 39, agreed to plead
guilty to one count of felony bank fraud and one count of
subscribing to a false tax return, was previously filed in U.S.
District Court in Los Angeles.
A federal bank fraud conviction carries a statutory maximum sentence
of 30 years in prison, with the tax offense punishable by up to
three years behind bars.
Estrada would not say what sentence his prosecutor's office would
seek, though he did say that the severity of the fraud likely meant
Mizuhara would be jailed, and possibly deported to Japan after he
serves any sentence.
Ohtani, in a written statement, said that he was thankful to the
authorities for "their thorough and effective investigation."
"It's time to close this chapter, move on and continue to focus on
playing and winning ball games," he said.
COVERING DEBTS
Mizuhara was accused of embezzling nearly $17 million from a bank
account of Ohtani's that Mizuhara had helped open in Phoenix in
2018, and transferring the funds without the ballplayer's knowledge
to an illegal bookmaking operation to cover Mizuhara's gambling
debts.
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![](../images/060524PIX/sports3.jpg)
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Japanese baseball star
Shohei Ohtani, walks outside the federal court in Santa Ana,
California, U.S., June 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Announcing the original bank fraud charge on April
11, U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada stressed there was nothing to
suggest wrongdoing by Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million,
10-year contract to join the Dodgers this season, becoming the
highest paid player in Major League Baseball.
Ohtani, 29, whose talents as a slugger and a pitcher have earned him
comparisons to Babe Ruth, has said he was an unwitting victim of
theft and has never bet on baseball or knowingly paid a bookmaker.
According to prosecutors, Mizuhara began gambling with an illegal
sports book in late 2021 and lost substantial sums.
To cover his debts, Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani over the phone on
more than two dozen occasions to deceive bank employees into
authorizing wire transfers from Ohtani's account, prosecutors said.
(Reporting by Michael Blake in Santa Ana, Brad Brooks in Longmont,
Colorado, and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Josie Kao)
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