1 year ago
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LOS ANGELES -- Ippei Mizuhara, erstwhile longtime interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers prima Shohei Ohtani, has surrendered to instrumentality enforcement and is present successful national custody, the U.S. Attorney's Office successful Los Angeles said.
He is expected to look successful national tribunal Friday afternoon.
The video is from a erstwhile report.
Federal authorities charged the erstwhile longtime interpreter for Ohtani connected Thursday with national slope fraud, alleging that helium stole much than $16 cardinal from the Japanese sensation to screen gambling bets and debts.
Mizuhara, a changeless beingness beside Ohtani successful shot stadiums crossed the state since 2018, abused the two-way player's spot successful him and exploited the connection obstruction to plunder a slope relationship that lone helium could access, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Mizuhara was truthful intertwined successful Ohtani's beingness and vocation that helium became the star's "de facto manager." The relation enabled him to retreat wealth from the relationship - astatine times lying and impersonating Ohtani to slope employees - to concern his "insatiable appetite for amerciable sports betting."
Thursday's announcement, astatine a packed quality league successful downtown Los Angeles, ended weeks of speculation astir Mizuhara's self-admitted gambling problems, the wide-ranging national probe and Ohtani's relation successful the scandal.
Estrada said that determination is nary grounds that Ohtani was alert of his interpreter's actions, adding that Ohtani has cooperated with investigators.
"I privation to stress this point: Mr. Ohtani is considered a unfortunate successful this case," helium said.
The transgression ailment - detailing the strategy done substance messages, fiscal records and recordings of telephone calls - showed adjacent Mizuhara knew the crippled was over. In a connection to his amerciable bookmaker connected March 20, the time the Los Angeles Times and ESPN broke the quality of the investigation, helium wrote: "Technically I did bargain from him. it's each implicit for me."
Mizuhara faces up to 30 years successful national situation if he's convicted of a azygous number of slope fraud. His attorney, Michael G. Freedman, declined to remark Thursday. Mizuhara's archetypal quality successful national tribunal is apt to hap this week.
The standard of the theft shocked the sports community, but besides further absolved Ohtani from wrongdoing successful baseball's biggest gambling disgrace since Pete Rose was banned for life. Major League Baseball opened its ain probe aft the contention surfaced past month, and the Dodgers instantly fired Mizuhara.
"Given the accusation disclosed (Thursday), and different accusation we person already collected, we volition hold until solution of the transgression proceeding to find whether further probe is warranted," MLB said successful a statement.
MLB rules prohibit players and squad employees from wagering - adjacent legally - connected baseball. MLB besides bans betting connected different sports with amerciable oregon offshore bookmakers.
Ohtani near the Los Angeles Angels successful December to motion a grounds $700 million, 10-year declaration with the Dodgers. Ohtani and Mizuhara had been regular companions since Ohtani joined the Angels successful 2018. Ohtani's shot salaries anterior to the Dodgers woody totaled astir $40 million, though it's besides expected helium earns tens of millions astatine slightest successful endorsements each year.
Federal investigators accidental Mizuhara made astir 19,000 wagers betwixt December 2021 and January 2024 - astir 25 bets per time connected average. The wagers ranged from astir $10 to $160,000 per bet, averaging astir $12,800. Estrada said investigators did not find immoderate grounds Mizuhara had wagered connected baseball.
While Mizuhara's winning bets totaled implicit $142 million, which helium deposited successful his ain slope relationship and not Ohtani's, his losing bets were astir $183 cardinal - a nett nonaccomplishment of astir $41 million.
At 1 point, the bookmaker couldn't scope Mizuhara and threatened to attack Ohtani, identified arsenic Victim A successful the transgression complaint.
"Hey Ippie, it's 2 o'clock connected Friday. I don't cognize wherefore you're not returning my calls. I'm present successful Newport Beach and I spot (Victim A) walking his dog," the bookmaker wrote to Mizuhara connected Nov. 17, 2023. "I'm conscionable gonna spell up and speech to him and inquire however I tin get successful interaction with you since you're not responding? Please telephone maine backmost immediately."
Ippei Mizuhara, erstwhile interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, is facing national charges related to his alleged theft of millions from the Dodgers star.
The alleged fraud besides spanned the lucrative memorabilia market. Investigators seized astir 1,000 collectible shot cards, including for specified players arsenic Yogi Berra, and discovered astir $325,000 successful transactions to online retailers from January to March. Authorities judge Mizuhara purchased the cards from the sites with the intent to resell them later.
Conflicting reports engulfed the opening of the shot play past month, prompting a swift determination to filing the charge.
"We understood determination was a important magnitude of nationalist involvement successful this case," Estrada said.
Mizuhara told ESPN connected March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts astatine the interpreter's request, saying the bets were connected planetary soccer, the NBA, the NFL and assemblage football.
But ESPN said Mizuhara changed his communicative the adjacent day, saying Ohtani had nary cognition of the gambling debts and had not transferred immoderate wealth to bookmakers.
Ohtani said helium archetypal became alert of Mizuhara's gambling occupation during a squad gathering aft the Dodgers' March 20 triumph implicit the San Diego Padres successful Seoul during MLB's archetypal crippled successful South Korea.The LA Times and ESPN published their stories hours later.
Five days later, Ohtani told a Dodger Stadium property league that helium ne'er stake connected sports oregon knowingly paid immoderate gambling debts accumulated by his interpreter. He placed work wholly connected Mizuhara, and refuted the interpreter's inconsistent accounts of whether Ohtani had paid disconnected Mizuhara's gambling debts.
"I americium precise saddened and shocked idiosyncratic whom I trusted has done this," the Japanese prima said done a caller interpreter.
"Ippei has been stealing wealth from my relationship and has been telling lies," Ohtani said. "I ne'er stake connected sports oregon person willfully sent wealth to the bookmaker."
According to the transgression complaint, the Mizuhara lawsuit stemmed from a broader probe of amerciable sports bookmaking organizations operating successful Southern California and the laundering of proceeds done casinos successful Las Vegas.
"To date, these investigations person led to transgression charges and/or convictions of 12 transgression defendants and 1 wealth work business, arsenic good arsenic non-prosecution agreements with 2 Las Vegas casinos," the ailment said. "The investigations stay ongoing and person aggregate targets, not each of whom are related to each other."
Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this report.
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