Ippei Mizuhara, who was translator and friend from Japanese Shohei Ohtani for years, was accused Thursday of illegally transferring more than $16 million from the Los Angeles superstar’s bank account. Los Angeles Dodgers to pay gambling debts.
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A California prosecutor charged Mizuhara, 39, with bank fraud for allegedly making a series of transfers without Ohtani’s knowledge or permission, the Justice Department reported.
The text noted that there is no evidence to suggest that Ohtani had knowledge of or was involved in Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity.
Ohtanithe greatest figure in baseball today, joined the Dodgers last December with a record contract estimated at about 700 million dollars for ten years.
The 29-year-old Japanese player told reporters last month that he had never bet on baseball and was unaware of Mizuhara’s gambling problems.
According to the Department of Justice, Mizuhara transferred more than $16 million from Ohtani’s bank account “to pay his own substantial gambling debts incurred from an illegal gambling operation.”
In the story of the alleged fraud, the organization indicated that the interpreter accompanied in 2018 Ohtaniwho did not speak English at the time, to a bank branch in the state of Arizona to open an account.
“Ohtani’s salary for playing professional baseball was deposited into this account and he never gave Mizuhara control of this or any of his other financial accounts,” according to an affidavit in the case.
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“Mizuhara allegedly told Ohtani’s financial professionals in the United States, none of whom spoke Japanese, that Ohtani had denied them access to the account“he added.
Contact information for Ohtani’s bank account was later changed to link it to Mizuhara’s phone number and an anonymous email address related to the translator, according to the affidavit.
Mizuhara would also have come to identify himself as Ohtani to deceive bank employees and get them to authorize bank transfers.
The Justice Department said Ohtani denied in his statement that he authorized the Mizuhara transfers.
“Ohtani provided his cell phone to law enforcement, who determined that there was no evidence to suggest that Ohtani was aware of or involved in Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity or the payment of those debts,” the agency said.
Major League Baseball’s betting policy prohibits “any player, umpire or member of a club or league” from placing bets on baseball and also from illegally betting on any other sport.
Players found guilty of betting on a match in which they participated are subject to lifetime bans. In the event that it occurred in games in which they were not involved, the suspension can be one year.
Bank fraud is punishable in the United States with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
After this scandal was uncovered, Ohtani was greeted with a huge ovation by his new Dodger fans at the team’s March 28 home opener.
The Japanese, two-time MVP of the American League, has a unique combination of elite pitching and hitting for which he has been compared to the legendary Babe Ruth since he landed six years ago in the United States to play for the Los Angeles Angels. with whom the contract ended last year.
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