2024-03-21 11:14:46
End of the adventure for Ippei Mizuhara. The interpreter and friend of baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, recruited at the end of 2023 by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a record contract of 700 million dollars (642 million euros) over ten years, was fired by the Californian club. The reason: “a massive theft” involving millions of dollars, according to the player’s representatives.
Ippei Mizuhara is suspected of having stolen money from the Japanese player for allegedly illegal bets with a bookmaker. “The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been fired. The team has no further comment to make at this time,” a Dodgers spokesperson said in an email to AFP.
4.5 million dollars in transfers
According to Los Angeles Times, West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler LLP looked into Ippei Mizuhara’s operations after the newspaper learned the star’s name was mentioned in a federal investigation into alleged illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer. “Upon responding to media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei had been the victim of a massive theft and referred the matter to authorities,” the firm said in a statement.
Citing two anonymous sources, the LA Times claims that the embezzled amounts “are in the millions of dollars”. Sports media outlet ESPN reported that suspicions were aroused after “at least $4.5 million (€4.1 million) in transfers sent from Ohtani’s bank account” to an associate of the bookmaker.
ESPN specifies that several sources, including Mizuhara himself, said that Ohtani was not gambling and that the funds covered the performer’s losses. MLB policy prohibits “any player, umpire, official or employee of a club or league” from betting on baseball or placing bets on any other sport.
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