According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Pipei Mizuhara, the friend and former Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani’s translator, admitted to stealing millions from Ohtani to pay off his gambling debts.
Mizuhara, 39, faces up to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty to , one count of bank fraud ( 30 years ) and , one count of subscribing to a false tax return ( 3 ) years.
A petition deal is anticipated to be reached with the Chinese speaker.
” The amount of this defendant’s fraud and extortion is massive”, U. S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. He “made use of his position of trust to exploit Mr. Ohtani and create a harmful playing practice.” My business is dedicated to bringing righteousness to those who have caused harm to our community.
Ippei Mizuhara, the speaker for Shohei Ohtani# 17 of the Los Angeles Angels, stands in the bleachers during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 22, 2022, in Anaheim, California. ( Jayne Kamin- Oncea/Getty Images )
According to the plea agreement, the ruse started in Arizona in 2018 when Mizuhara assisted Ohtani, who does n’t speak English, in opening a bank account. Mizuhara rang up a number of payments that he could not give when he started gambling on sporting events in September 2021 with a liar who had previously run a gambling business. Mizuhara had access to the log-in data from the banks account he had helped set up for Ohtani, though.
Mizuhara, according to the Prosecution,” could not be paid his gambling debts” by plotting to defraud and defraud the bank to unlawfully take money out of the account.
Particularly, Mizuhara cheated the lender by changing the safety data so that, after he took cash out of the account, the bank workers would call him instead of Ohtani. Additionally, according to the plea deal, Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani on the telephone 24 days in meetings with the lender.
After being introduced by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on December 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California, Shohei Ohtani poses for a photo with agent Nez Balelo ( L ) and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara ( R ). ( Meg Oliphant/Getty Images )
Mizuhara allegedly paid practically$ 17 million to associates of the publisher without Ohtani’s approval during the months of November 2021 through March 2024 in a series of wire payments.
In 2022, Mizuhara even failed to report$ 4.1 million in revenue.
On March 25, Ohtani addressed Mizuhara’s robbery with investigators. The Dodgers pitcher said,” I am quite saddened and shocked that someone has done this.
Mizuhara’s trial is scheduled for May 14.
