Text messages between Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, and the operator of an illegal sports book — revealed in a 37-page federal criminal complaint filed on Thursday in the United States — paint a picture of a person ensnared in a web of deceit and theft as he desperately chased gambling losses while the walls closed in around him.
U.S. attorneys charged Mizuhara with bank fraud after a federal investigation concluded that the 39-year-old stole over $16 million from Ohtani between November 2021 and January 2024 to cover gambling losses that stretched into the millions.
The story exploded in the media in late March when Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers were playing in MLB's season-opening series in Seoul. While the wider details were not publicly known, Mizuhara admitted to stealing from Ohtani and said he had a gambling addiction.