Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has asked a federal judge for ownership of $325,000 worth of baseball cards that he said were fraudulently purchased by his former performer. .
Ohtani on Tuesday asked a federal judge in California for a hearing to recover ownership of sports cards that were seized from nearly $17 million in a massive scandal that dominated the weeks leading up to the season last spring.
Between January and March 2024, according to the report, Mizuhara purchased baseball cards online with the intention of reselling them. Ohtani said they were purchased with his money and he wants the authorities who confiscated them when Mizuhara was arrested to return them. Ohtani also requested “a number of personally signed collectible baseball cards” with his image on the back that were in Misuhara’s possession when they were confiscated by authorities.
to pay off sports betting debts earlier this year. He is . He is due back in court in January for sentencing. He was Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and also acted as his financial point of contact when Ohtani moved to the United States in 2018.
Mizuhara averaged approximately 25 bets per day with an average bet of $12,800 from December 2021 to January 2024, prosecutors said. He lost approximately $40.7 million in total. With access to Ohtani’s bank accounts, Mizuhara stole millions to try to pay off that debt. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara earlier this year and. He cooperated with investigators and insisted that he never bet on any sports and did not know Mizuhara was stealing from him.
early this fall. award after the season as well, despite not pitching once while recovering from elbow surgery he underwent at the end of his time with the Los Angeles Angels. As the Dodgers’ full-time designated hitter, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. Ohtani is expected to take the mound again next season.