Shohei Ohtani’s fired interpreter Ippei Mizuhra is also accused of falsifying his employment and college history amid claims he stole at least $4.5m from Dodgers star to cover gambling losses

Already accused of stealing millions from client and friend Shohei Ohtani to cover his own alleged gambling losses, fired Los Angeles Dodgers translator Ippei Mizuhara’s resume has now come under scrutiny amid the growing baseball scandal. .

After previously playing for American players with Ohtani’s former Japanese team, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Mizuhara first worked with the Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar in 2017.

Hired by the club, Mizuhara is listed in the Angels’ media guides as a graduate of the University of California, Riverside who previously served as “interpreter for Hideki Okajima during Yankees spring training in 2012.”

Later news reports have also credited Mizuhara as Okajima’s interpreter during the pitcher’s tenure with the Boston Red Sox.

Now, however, those claims seem like fiction.

As first reported by NBC Los Angeles, the University of California, Riverside says it has no records of Mizuhara at the 70-year-old school.

And as for his time supposedly working with Okajima, it has raised even more questions.

Not only did Okajima fail a physical with the Yankees in February 2012, triggering his release and negating any need for a translator, but the Red Sox now insist that Mizuhara never worked for them either.

“We are contacting all of you due to reports in various media outlets claiming that Ippei Mizuhara worked for the Red Sox as an interpreter, which is incorrect,” read a message from the club distributed to media members on Friday. ‘Mizuhara was never employed by the Boston Red Sox in any capacity and was not Hideki Okajima’s interpreter during the pitcher’s time with the team. Please note that we have carefully reviewed our files to ensure that we provide accurate information.

Photographs taken of Okajima during his five years with the Red Sox show people other than Mizuhara serving as interpreters for the relief pitcher.

According to The Athletic, employment histories contained in teams’ media guides are often not scrutinized. Instead, teams trust employees not to mislead the press about their previous positions.

Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday amid questions about at least $4.5 million in suspicious wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank to an illegal gambling operation in California that ESPN reports is under federal investigation. Unlike many states, California has not yet legalized sports betting.

Ohtani spokespeople first told ESPN that the 29-year-old slugger was covering Mizuhara’s extensive gambling debts. Later, after ESPN spoke with Mizuhara about the allegations, Ohtani spokespeople disavowed the translator’s comments to the network and instead offered a statement from attorneys representing the two-time MVP.

“In responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to authorities,” read the statement from Ohtani’s law firm, Berk Brettler LLP.

The statement did not specifically accuse Mizuhara of stealing, but the Los Angeles Times reports that the performer is accused of swindling millions from Ohtani. Meanwhile, ESPN reports that Mizuhara’s debt amounted to at least $4.5 million.

“At first, it was a friend with a gambling problem and Ohtani rescued him, which is very believable to help a friend, as had been made public,” Carton told The Post.

“When they came back to it and said the money had been stolen, they opened Pandora’s box and now they have to really trust this interpreter.”

Ohtani’s spokesmen have denied he is involved in illegal gambling and insist he had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s alleged bets. Neither Ohtani nor Mizuhara have been charged with any crime.

The Associated Press reported that the IRS is investigating Mizuhara, while Major League Baseball said Friday that it is investigating the situation.