The 8 wildest revelations from the criminal complaint against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ippei Mizuhara is accused of stealing millions of dollars from the MLB star, and the details are absolutely wild.

Last month when news broke of a major story involving Shohei Ohtani, the biggest star in professional baseball, and illegal gambling, it was hard to imagine a more explosive story in sports this year. While the initial details were confusing and murky, the narrative has cleared up over the weeks as MLB and the federal government initiated their respective investigations. Today, federal prosecutors formally announced charges of bank fraud against Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. The complaint can be found here, but here are the 8 most shocking revelations in the 32-page document:

Ohtani hired Mizuhara as his interpreter, but he became a de facto manager

In the complaint, the investigator reveals that besides translation, Mizuhara also essentially worked as an assistant for Shohei Ohtani, driving him places and helping with personal tasks. In 2018 Mizuhara accompanied Ohtani to a bank to translate and help him open an account for his MLB paychecks. This detail provides an answer for how Mizuhara was able to access Ohtani’s bank account and initiate wire transfers without anyone’s knowledge.

Mizuhara placed approximately 19,000 bets in just over two years

Records obtained from the illegal sportsbooks that Mizuhara worked with detail nearly twenty-thousand bets placed between December 2021 and January 2024. Some simple math reveals Mizuhara was placing roughly 25 bets per day, or at least one per hour for two years.

Mizuhara was deep, deep in the hole

The early exchanges between Mizuhara and the illegal sportsbook are generally lighthearted. In November 2022 he sent a message saying “I’m terrible at this sport betting thing huh? Lol . . . Any chance u can bump me again?? As you know, you don’t have to worry about me not paying!!” but by December 2023 the tone had changed considerably: “I’m so sorry bro . . . I really don’t mean to disrespect you at all I promise . . . it’s just been super super busy . . . and I’ve got other issues on the side going on too.”

The total amount of money wagered isn’t revealed (assuming Mizuhara bet his own funds supplemented by money from Ohtani’s accounts) but the document details $142,256,769.74 in total winnings and losses of $182,935,206.68, leaving him over 40 million dollars in the red.

Ippei Mizuhara impersonated Shohei Ohtani on a phone call with the bank, changed contact info on bank account to his own

There are dozens of text messages in the complaint detailing Mizuhara’s difficulty in wiring a massive amount of money to the illegal bookies. In February 2022, Mizuhara called Ohtani’s bank and impersonated Ohtani to initiate a $300,000 wire transfer. The call was recorded, and the investigator notes that he recognizes Mizuhara’s voice in the recording as well as a humorous detail: “ [Shohei Ohtani] does not speak English fluently, while the caller spoke fluent English.”

Mizuhara also logged into the bank account in question numerous times from his cell phone, and changed the contact email address to a burner account he owned and turned off notifications, all seemingly to cover his tracks as he siphoned money from Ohtani.

When the bookies got impatient with the debt, things got scary

For a couple years, the relationship between Mizuhara and his bookies seemed chummy as he regularly deposited massive sums of money into their pockets. But by last 2023 the debt had mounted and they grew impatient. In November 2023 one of them texted Mizuhara: “Hey Ippie, it’s 2 o’clock on Friday. I don’t know why you’re not returning my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see [Shohei Ohtani] walking his dog. I’m just gonna go up and talk to him and ask how I can get in touch with you since you’re not responding?”

In January the texts became more serious: “you’re putting me in a position where this is going to get out of control. If I don’t hear from you by the end of the day today it’s gonna [sic] be out of my hands.” The implication of danger combined with the revelation that not only were the sportsbooks aware of the relationship between Mizuhara and Ohtani, but were possibly tracking Ohtani shows just how close this situation was to becoming dangerous.

Mizuhara used Ohtani’s language barrier as a weapon

The complaint details mulitple conversations with Ohtani’s agent, financial advisor, and Ohtani himself. All of them describe being aware of the bank account involved in the betting scandal, but never being allowed to access it. Mizuhara lied on multiple occasions that Ohtani insisted the account be kept secret, despite concerns from others on Ohtani’s staff that his full assets weren’t being accounted for in tax liabilities. None of these people questioned this or asked Ohtani directly about the account, apparently.

Shohei Ohtani agreed to let agents search his devices, and they came back clean

As the investigation progressed, agents requested access to Shohei Ohtani’s phone. They searched nearly 10,000 pages of text messages between Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara which revealed “no discussion of sports betting … bookkeepers … odds, wagering or any other reference which might indicate [Ohtani’s] knowledge of Mizuhara’s gambling.” Additionally, a digital forensic search found no logins to the aforementioned bank account from Ohtani’s devices, any searches for the gambling sites in question, or texts discussing sports bettting.

Mizuhara fessed up as the walls were closing in

In March, Mizuhara and his bookies became aware of an LA Times story being written about his gambling. On March 17, one of the bookmaker’s texted Mizuhara: “Do you think there is any way to find out the details of the article that’s coming out on LA Times?”

Three days later the story dropped, while Ohtani and the Dodgers were playing a preseason game in Seoul. This is what transpired, according to the complaint:

“Following the game, [Ohtani’s] team was assembled by team management in the locker room, and members of team management addressed the players, followed by MIZUHARA addressing the entire team, in English. No one translated what was said at this meeting to [Ohtani], and he did not understand most of what was said in English, but [Ohtani] was able to understand there was an issue involving MIZUHARA. Following the team meeting, [Ohtani] asked MIZUHARA what the issue was, and MIZUHARA told [Ohtani] that they needed to speak privately.”

That same day, Mizuhara texted one of his bookkeepers “Technically I did steal from him. it’s all over for me.”

The felony bank fraud charges carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Mizuhara is expected to appear in court in the near future.