Illegal Bookie Threatened To Confront Shohei Ohtani As Ippei Mizuhara Ducked Calls
By now, we know that the feds charged former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara for allegedly committing bank fraud and stealing more than $16 million from Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani … per their investigation.
As part of that investigation, a scandalous moment involving Ippei and his illegal Southern California bookie, Matthew Boyer, was cited.
Mizuhara allegedly spent more than $16 million of Shohei's money and placed thousands of bets on non-MLB events.
Los Angeles - Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani stands with his agent Nez Balelo (left) and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara at an introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 14, 2023. Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
One detail that stood out from the federal investigation revealed that as Mizuhara dodged calls from his illegal sports bookie, the bookie once threatened to confront Shohei Ohtani as the Los Angeles Dodgers star was out walking his dog.
In a scene that played out like a crime thriller, the bookie allegedly had eyes on Ohtani and wanted to expose Mizuhara. To get to this point, you'll need to believe that Ippei Mizuhara truly kept his "insatiable" betting addiction a secret. After all, the bookie's bookie's ploy was to reveal Mizuhara's activity to Ohtani.
A message to Ippei sent by the Long Beach bookie revealed in the investigation, read, "I don’t know why you’re not returning my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see [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? Please call me back immediately."
Mizuhara allegedly pulled off his scheme by accessing Ohtani's bank information and turning off his notifications, which many still have trouble believing.
The former interpreter additionally lied about attending UC Riverside and previous work experience with the Boston Red Sox. Acting as Shohei Ohtani's interpreter and "de facto" manager, Ippei Mizuhara allegedly accessed Shohei's bank account without the baseball player's understanding and even impersonated Ohtani over the phone when speaking to the player's bank.
Additionally, all earnings from Mizuhara's successful bets were transferred to his bank account rather than Ohtani's accounts. The total number of wire transfers used to conduct this operation was reportedly in the "thousands."
Shohei Ohtani was a victim of bank fraud, feds claim. (Getty Images)
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers this offseason.
A New York Times report on Wednesday noted that Ippei already intends to plead guilty to the bank fraud charge.
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