Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s disgraced former interpreter, pleads guilty to bank and tax fraud in connection with gambling scheme and now faces up to 33 years in prison
Shohei Ohtani’s disgraced former interpreter faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in jail after pleading guilty to bank and tax fraud charges.
Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty in a federal court in California on Tuesday following the first of Major League Baseball’s two massive gambling scandals of 2024. Mizuhara’s guilty plea came hours after MLB extended a lifetime ban to Padres shortstop Tucupita Marcano for wagering on baseball.
Authorities said there was no proof that Ohtani was involved in – or even aware of – Mizuhara’s gambling addiction.
The former interpreter is accused of leveraging his contact with Ohtani while taking millions from his private bank account. At times, Mizuhara even impersonated Ohtani in order to transfer Ohtani’s money to illicit bookies.
His sentence is slated for October 25.
Ippei Mizuhara is seen leaving a federal court in Los Angeles after pleading guilty to fraud
Ohtani (center) and Mizuhara (right) began working together with the Los Angeles Angels
MLB laws forbid players and team personnel from wagering on baseball, legally or illegally, and also prohibits them from betting with illicit bookies. Mizuhara did not gamble on baseball, instead choosing to wager on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football.
Mizuhara’s winning bets totaled approximately $142M, which he put in his personal bank account rather than Ohtani’s.
However, his lost bets were roughly $183M – a net loss of nearly $41M.
As he’s admitted to investigators, Mizuhara helped Ohtani register a bank account back in 2018 and began taking money from that account in 2021, according to the plea deal
At one time, Mizuhara modified the security procedures, email and phone number associated with it so that calls came directly to him, not Ohtani, when the back was attempted to check financial transfers. Mizuhara admitted to impersonating Ohtani to the bank roughly 24 times, according to the deal.
Mizuhara also acknowledged to manipulating his 2022 tax filings, underreporting his income by more over $4 million.
The Dodgers released a statement in response to Mizuhara’s guilty plea on Tuesday afternoon.
‘With today’s plea in the criminal proceedings against Ippei Mizuhara and the closure of both federal and MLB investigations, the Dodgers are delighted that Shohei and the organization can put this matter behind them and move forward in pursuit of a World Series win,’ the team said in a statement.