It is almost time to face the music. Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter and close friend to MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani, has agreed to plead guilty to bank fraud in relation to stealing nearly $17 million from the star player in order to pay for his gambling addiction and debts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mizuhara, 39 years-of-age, has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, which carries up to 36 months in prison, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. He is expected to enter a plea in the coming weeks, with an arraignment set for Tuesday, May 14, the Department of Justice said.
“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” U.S. 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 wrongdoers face justice.”
According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara helped Ohtani, who does not speak English, get a bank account started in Phoenix back in 2018, during which he interpreted the login information for the player’s account. In September 2021, Mizuhara started placing sports bets with an illegal bookmaker to whom he quickly became indebted to and found himself in hot water, according to the plea agreement.
“Unable to pay his gambling debts, Mizuhara orchestrated a scheme to deceive and cheat the bank to fraudulently obtain money from the account,” the DOJ said in a release.
Mizuhara gained access to Ohtani’s bank account and changed security information so bank employees would get in touch with him, and leave Ohtani out of the loop, when attempting to confirm wire transfers from the account, according to the plea agreement. He also pretended to be Ohtani on 24 occasions in calls to the bank, according to the agreement.
Embed from Getty ImagesFrom November 2021 to March of this year, Mizuhara transferred nearly $17 million from the account to associates of the bookmaker in more than 40 wires without Ohtani’s knowledge or permission, according to the plea agreement.
Mizuhara also admitted in the plea agreement to falsely reporting that his total taxable income for 2022 was $136,865 when, in fact, he failed to report an additional $4.1 million in income.
“The source of the unreported income was from his scheme to defraud the bank,” the DOJ said, noting that he owes approximately $1,149,400 in additional taxes for the tax year 2022, plus additional interest and fines.
Estrada previously emphasized that Ohtani is an innocent victim in the case and has cooperated “fully and completely” in the investigation.
The Los Angeles Dodgers announced they had terminated the Japanese interpreter his walking papers on March 20, after the gambling controversy came to light. The organization did not provide a specific reason at the time for Mizuhara’s ousting.
Mizuhara was charged in the matter last month. Following his initial appearance in federal court on April 12, his attorney, Michael Freedman, said in a statement to ABC News that Mizuhara is “continuing to cooperate with the legal process and is hopeful that he can reach an agreement with the government to resolve this case as quickly as possible so that he can take responsibility.”
“He wishes to apologize to Mr. Ohtani, the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and his family,” the statement continued. “As noted in court, he is also eager to seek treatment for his gambling.”
Ohtani spoke on the scandal for the first time on March 25 during a press conference and did not take any questions from the assembled media. In a prepared statement, Ohtani said through an interpreter, “I am very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this.”
