Shohei Ohtani had something planned for Friday, October 25, long before the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their spot in the World Series. Long before he made more MLB history. Long before Freddie Freeman’s historic grand slam decided a heady debut against the New York Yankees.
It’s a 30-mile drive from Dodger Stadium to Santa Ana, California, where, in June, Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges.
Ohtani’s former performer and close confidant admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the MLB star to finance his mounting gambling debts.
He is believed to have placed 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024, an average of almost 25 per day. He won $142 million but lost more than $180 million.
Mizuhara now faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison; His sentencing was scheduled for October 25 at 2 pm PT, three hours before Jack Flaherty threw out the first pitch of Game 1.
Ippei Mizuhara (L) was accused of stealing $17 million from baseball icon Shohei Ohtani (R)
The Los Angeles Dodgers star signed a 10-year, $700 million contract in December 2023.
However, last month, the hearing was postponed until December, at Mizuhara’s request. That cleared Ohtani’s diary. On Friday night, his only date was a first date with the Yankees.
Mizuhara’s guilty plea had already wiped the slate clean for Ohtani. Major League Baseball closed its investigation and echoed the authorities’ conclusions: its biggest star was nothing more than a victim. Case ‘closed’.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, said they were “pleased that Shohei and the team can put this whole matter behind them and move forward in their pursuit of a World Series title.”
Both statements underplayed the mysterious web of debt and deceit that entangled the greatest player this sport has ever seen, perhaps since Babe Ruth.
In December 2023, the two-time MVP had signed the richest contract in the history of team sports when he joined the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700 million contract. However, after a few months he became linked to an illegal betting house, ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ and a Hollywood law firm whose clients range from Prince Andrew to Leonardo DiCaprio.
Ohtani remained silent, except to protest his innocence. Through lawyers. And then, through a 650-word statement in Japanese, when the 30-year-old said he was “sad” and “shocked” by the “lies” and betrayal of “trust.”
Earlier this year, Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges in California.
Ohtani is harassed by reporters before Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees
His words were translated into English by Dodgers staffer Will Ireton. That had been Mizuhara’s job since Ohtani joined the Major Leagues in 2018. He was their interpreter but also, it is said, their coach, driver and best friend.
They shared a locker, ate at the same table and sat next to each other on the bench. They have been compared to “peanut butter and jelly.”
Hence the questions persisted, even after Mizuhara was fired and Ohtani was formally cleared of any wrongdoing. The two-way star was exonerated in April, but the case cast a shadow over his first season. Some fans are still wondering: is there more to this story?
Earlier this week, Ohtani was involved in another record-breaking deal. The Japanese superstar is the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
He hit uncharted waters last month and the ball Ohtani sent over the fence was recently auctioned off. It sold for $4.39 million, surpassing the previous highest price for any sports ball.
It was a dazzling illustration of Ohtani’s value to the Dodgers and their sport. It was a small change though. At least compared to the numbers that move between your bank account and the gaming world in recent years.
Ohtani, authorities discovered, had no idea his old friend was investing his millions. And, back in November 2023, the two-way star was unaware that he was also being watched. Mizuhara received a message that revealed the dark thread that ran through this curious case. It was from ‘Betting House 1’; Ohtani was identified only as “Victim A.”
He is the only player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.
Mizuhara had been Ohtani’s interpreter and confidant since he arrived in Major League Baseball.
‘Hello Ippie (sic), it’s 2 o’clock on Friday. I don’t know why you don’t return my calls. “I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (Victim A) walking her dog,” it said. ‘I’m going to go up and talk to him and ask him how I can contact you since you’re not responding. Please call me immediately.’
By then, authorities said, transfers from Ohtani’s accounts had reached $500,000 at a time. The first fraudulent transfer, for $40,000, appeared two years earlier, but agents have been connecting the dots since 2018, when Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels.
He reportedly met Mizuhara in 2013. Five years later, they went to a bank in Arizona together. The interpreter helped Ohtani open an account and then posed as his friend to deceive the bank and give him access to the funds.
Another key turn came in 2021, when Mizuhara met Mathew Bowyer at a poker game in San Diego. Soon, he started betting with the illegal betting house. He soon found himself in debt.
It is said that at the end of 2022 the interpreter owed more than $1 million. Soon he was reportedly $4 million in the red. At some point, the performer altered the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account to link it to his phone number. That way the bank would call you to verify the bank transfers.
Last October, federal agents raided Bowyer’s home, shortly before Ohtani signed the largest contract in baseball history. Mizuhara moved with him around Los Angeles and soon his problems also followed Ohtani from the Angels to the Dodgers.
Mizuhara Allegedly Transferred Cash to ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ Ryan Boyajian
A giant mural of Ohtani is painted in a hotel in Little Tokyo, a neighborhood in Los Angeles
Ohtani’s name was reportedly found on two wire transfers to Bowyer totaling $1 million. The initial explanation? He had made the payments to cover Mizuhara’s debts, which were initially thought to be around $4.5 million.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles was preparing for the start of the 2024 regular season. The Dodgers’ first game – against the Padres – took place in the South Korean capital, Seoul. Before the March 20 game, a bomb threat was made against Ohtani. Police searched the Gocheok Sky Dome before concluding it was a hoax. But inside the Dodgers clubhouse, another fuse had been lit.
The game continued and Mizuhara sat on the bench. Later that night, however, the performer confessed that he had a gambling addiction. Club executive Andrew Friedman reportedly told his team that Ohtani had covered for his friend.
However, within hours, Mizuhara’s story began to unravel. Ohtani’s lawyers claimed to have “discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive robbery and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”
The statement came through Berk Brettler LLP, a top Hollywood law firm that represented some of the biggest names in show business. Ohtani is alleged to have criticized Mizuhara after asking him what was said in the clubhouse.
The baseball star hired Berk Brettler, founded by Andrew Brettler (left) and Blair Berk (right)
The Los Angeles superstar is flanked by his new performer Will Ireton on Thursday
The performer was fired by the Dodgers and then, the following month, Mizuhara was accused of stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani ‘to fund his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.’
A few weeks later, it was claimed that Bowyer’s partner, to whom Mizuhara had transferred money, was ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ cast member Ryan Boyajian. The irony.
Few athletes are as protective of the privacy of their personal lives as Ohtani. Now he is forever linked to reality TV.
During spring training, Ohtani announced his marriage to former basketball player Mamiko Tanaka on Instagram. None of his classmates even knew that he had a girlfriend.
Glimpses behind the curtain of Ohtani’s life are rare and that only adds to the mystery of this case. So does its dependence on an interpreter. But the language barrier has never hindered Ohtani at the plate. This remarkable story didn’t derail his hopes of leading the Dodgers to glory either.
The World Series will conclude in early November. A few weeks later, Mizuhara will learn his fate and this curious chapter of Ohtani’s career could finally be closed.