Shohei Ohtani’s disgraced former interpreter faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison 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 issued a lifetime ban to Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for betting on baseball.
Authorities say there was no evidence that Ohtani was involved in – or even aware of – Mizuhara’s gambling problem.
The former interpreter is accused of exploiting his relationship with Ohtani while stealing millions from his private bank account. At times, Mizuhara even impersonated Ohtani in order to funnel Ohtani’s money to illegal bookmakers.
His sentencing is scheduled for October 25.
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MLB rules ban players and team employees from wagering on baseball, legally or illegally, and also prohibits them from betting with illegal bookmakers. Mizuhara did not bet on baseball, instead preferring to wager on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football.
Mizuhara’s winning bets totaled over $142M, which he deposited in his own bank account rather than Ohtani’s.
However, his losing bets were around $183M – a net loss of nearly $41M.
As he’s admitted to authorities, Mizuhara helped Ohtani open a bank account back in 2018 and began stealing money from that account in 2021, according to the plea agreement.
At one point, Mizuhara changed the security protocols, email and phone number associated with it so that calls came directly to him, not Ohtani, when the back was attempted to verify wire transfers. Mizuhara admitted to impersonating Ohtani to the bank about 24 times, according to the agreement.
Mizuhara also admitted to falsifying his 2022 tax returns, underreporting his income by more than $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 conclusion of both federal and MLB investigations, the Dodgers are pleased that Shohei and the team can put this matter behind them and move forward in pursuit of a World Series title,’ the team said in a statement.