Shohei Ohtani has made headlines over the last week for something other than his once-in-a-lifetime abilities on the baseball field. A recent piece by ESPN indicated that the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, after it was discovered that at least $4.5 million made its way from Ohtani’s bank account to a bookmaker in California, one of the few remaining states where gambling remains illegal.
On Monday, Ohtani finally spoke to the media regarding the saga, as he read a prepared statement but did not take questions from the media.
Shohei Ohtani states he has never bet on baseball or any other sport, and publicly accuses former translator Ippei Mizuhara of stealing from him and lying pic.twitter.com/zjapF6o07K
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 25, 2024
Shohei Ohtani said Ippei Mizuhara never told him reporters had reached out about the bank transfers.
Said Mizuhara told Ohtani’s reps that Ohtani had paid his debts.
“All of this has been a complete lie,” Ohtani said.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) March 25, 2024
Shohei Ohtani: “I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker.”
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) March 25, 2024
“I never bet on baseball or any other sports, or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “And I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports … Up until a couple days ago, I didn’t know that this was happening … In conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.”
Ohtani went on to say that he is assisting in investigations into the matter.
The reigning AL MVP, Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels this offseason to sign a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers. Prior to the release of the ESPN story on Mizuhara’s gambling problems, Mizuhara sat down with ESPN for a 90-minute interview in which he “laid out his account in great detail,” while a spokesperson for Ohtani said he floated the money to cover his gambling debts. This telling of the events was, just prior to publication, “disavowed” by the spokesperson, while a statement was released via Ohtani’s legal representation.
“In the course of 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 the authorities,” the statement read.