A four-minute audio recording was revealed by federal prosecutors Thursday that shows Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly tried to push through a six-figure wire transfer from one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ star accounts by impersonating him.
Mizuhara has been convicted of defrauding Ohtani, the National League MVP and World Baseball Superstar, and the tape obtained by the Athletic from the Department of Justice is a key piece of evidence.
That was mentioned in a court filing, which also had prosecutors recommending a nearly five-year sentence for Mizuhara and an order to pay restitution to Ohtani, according to the Athletic.
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Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty on June 4, 2024 to bank and tax fraud in a sports betting scheme and admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from Shohei Ohtani. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, file)
Mizuhara, who is scheduled to be sentenced on February 6, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return after stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani, with whom he was best friends for years, in June 2024.
The recording was obtained from a bank, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Mitchell told The Athletic, and it supports prosecutors’ claims that Mizuhara would call the banks to arrange wire transfers.
Prosecutors added that the recording was redacted to redact bank names and the name of an “unindicated co-conspirator.”
Former Shohei Ohtani interpreter pleads guilty to charges in sports betting case
In the recording, Mizuhara clearly states that his name is Ohtani after the bank agent asks, “Who am I talking to?” Mizuhara bypassed the bank’s security measures and changed Ohtani’s account information to include his own email and phone number.
So when the bank agent asks Mizuhara to perform two-factor authentication using a six-digit code sent to a phone number, he can do it because it goes to his phone instead of Ohtani’s.
The recording shows Mizuhara matching the numbers, which allows the agent to work on his request, a car loan for $200,000.
“Recently, we’ve come across a trend of fraud and scams, so we’ve been monitoring the online transactions closely to make sure our customers don’t fall victim to any of them,” the agent says first. “What is the reason for this transaction?”
Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara of the Los Angeles Dodgers during a press conference at Dodger Stadium Dec. 14, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The agent then asks “Ohtani” what his relationship with the payee is, to which Mizuhara says, “He’s my friend.”
“Have you met your friend in person” “replies the agent.
“Yes, many times,” Mizuhara replied.
Mizuhara said he stole from Ohtani to cover “larger gambling debts,” as he said in a brief statement after pleading guilty.
“I went ahead and wired money … with his bank account,” Mizuhara said in the statement at the time.
Prosecutors asked that the restitution amount BET put at nearly $17 million for Ohtani, although it was noted that Mizuhara is unable to pay it back to the All-Star. An additional $1.1 million in restitution is being sought by the IRS.
Japanese interpreter Ippei Mizuhara attends a news conference at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles on December 14, 2023. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
The ex-outfielder’s winning bets totaled over $142 million, which he deposited into his own bank account and not Ohtani’s. His losing bets were around $183 million. He didn’t bet on baseball.
There is also no indication of the Ohtani rate on baseball.
The Athletic reported that court filings say that between December 2021 and January 2024, Mizuhara placed about 19,000 bets online through Matthew Bowyer, his bookie, who also pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business in August 2024.
Mizuhara’s debt was up to $40.7 million.
“His years-long theft of funds from Mr. Ohtani and the countless lies he told to Mr. Ohtani’s agents and financial advisors to cover his theft represent a calculated betrayal of the very person he was hired to help,” Mitchell wrote in Court filing.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, arrives in Federal Court in Los Angeles June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
“To sum up how I feel right now, I’m beyond shocked,” Ohtani said in a statement about the matter last year. “It’s really hard to verbalize how I feel at this point.
“I am very saddened and shocked that someone I trust has done this.”
