Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter pleads guilty to transferring $17m from player’s bank account

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani‘s former interpreter will plead guilty to bank and tax fraud after allegedly stealing nearly $17m from the baseball star.

Ippei Mizuhara, 39, of Newport Beach, California, is accused of using the funds to pay off his own illegal gambling debts. The news, which broke in March, has shocked baseball fans across the world, from the US to Ohtani’s native Japan.

Mr Mizuhara will plead guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, the US Justice Department announced on Wednesday. The plea will be entered in the coming weeks ahead of his arraignment on 14 May.

The bank fraud charge carries a maximum of 30 years in federal prison, and the false tax return charge carries a sentence of up to three years in federal prison.

The plea agreement says Mizuhara will be required to pay Mr Ohtani restitution that could total nearly $17m, as well as more than $1m to the IRS. Those amounts could change before sentencing.

“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” 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.”

According to prosecutors, Mizuhara exploited his personal and professional relationship with Mr Ohtani to plunder millions from the two-way player’s account for years. At times, he even allegedly impersonated the player himself when dealing with bankers.

Prosecutors say that he had begun placing bets with an illegal bookmaker in September 2021, and quickly got in over his head.

“Shortly thereafter, Mizuhara began to lose bets and quickly became indebted to the bookmaker. 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.

“From no later than November 2021 to March 2024, Mizuhara used Ohtani’s password to successfully sign into the bank account and then changed the account’s security protocols without Ohtani’s knowledge or permission.

“In total, Mizuhara called the bank and impersonated Ohtani on approximately 24 occasions.”

During this time, Mizuhara regularly logged into Mr Ohtani’s bank account and initiated wire transfers from the account to the bookmaker and his associates as payments for gambling debts.

On June 20, 2023, Mizuhara accessed the account without the player’s permission and transferred $500,000 to one of the bookmaker’s associates. From January 2024 to March 2024, Mr Mizuhara purchased approximately $325,000 worth of baseball cards from online resellers such as eBay from Mr Ohtani’s bank account with the intent to resell them later and for his own benefit.

When Mr Ohtani’s sports agent and financial advisors asked Mr Mizuhara for access to the bank account, Mizuhara lied and said his boss did not want them to access the account because it was private.

The long-time interpreter’s winning bets totalled over $142m, which he deposited in his own bank account and not Mr Ohtani’s. But his losing bets were around $183m, a net loss of nearly $41m.

In total Mr Mizuhara fraudulently obtained more than $16,975,010 from Mr Ohtani, according to the DOJ.

He did not wager on baseball, prosecutors said.

Major League Baseball (MLB) rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering on baseball, even legally. MLB also bans betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

Mr Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers, and the MLB opened an investigation into the situation after The Los Angeles Times and ESPN broke the news of the prosecution in late March.

There was no evidence that Mr Ohtani was involved in or aware of Mr Mizuhara’s gambling, and the player is cooperating with investigators, authorities said.

Since the allegations emerged, Mr Mizuhara has been free on an unsecured $25,000 bond, colloquially known as a signature bond.

This means he did not have to put up any cash or collateral to be freed. If he violates the bond conditions — which include a requirement to undergo gambling addiction treatment — he will be required to pay $25,000.

Mr Ohtani has played in the United States since 2018, first for the Los Angeles Angels before signing a record-breaking contract with the Dodgers in December. The contract is worth $700m and stretches over 10 years.

Since the case against his ex-interpreter was announced, the Dodgers star has focussed on his game. Just hours after his Mr Mizuhara first appeared in court in April, he hit his 175th home run as an MLB player, tying Hideki Matsui for the most by a Japan-born player, during the Dodgers’ 8-7 loss to the San Diego Padres in 11 innings.