LOS ANGELES — Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud and tax invasion, admitting to stealing nearly $17 million from the Dodgers slugger.
Mizuhara’s theft was fueled by a severe gambling addiction, during which he placed over 19,000 bets and lost an astonishing $180 million over three years.
Spectrum News spoke with David Leong, a recovered gambling addict turned clinical therapist, to discuss how the rise in online sports betting is exacerbating addiction.
Leong and his former therapist, Dan Fields, run the Westside Gambling Treatment, a seven-week outpatient program.