Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter will spend nearly five years in prison for stealing almost $17 million from the Dodgers superstar through an elaborate gambling scheme.
Ippei Mizuhara was sentenced Thursday to 57 months behind bars after pleading guilty to bank fraud and stealing millions from Ohtani’s personal accounts.
The judge ordered Mizuhara to pay back every penny – nearly $17 million to Ohtani and another $1.1 million to the IRS.
“This was a calculated betrayal of the very person he was hired to help,” prosecutors wrote, emphasizing how Ohtani was “truly a victim” who continues to suffer from the breach of trust.
The gambling addiction that drove Mizuhara’s crimes was staggering in scale. He placed an average of 25 bets per day, typically wagering around $12,800 each time. His total gambling activity was mind-boggling:
– Won about $142 million
– Lost about $182 million
– Net losses topped $40 million
The scheme fell apart in March 2024, just one day into the MLB season. That’s when news broke that Mizuhara had been impersonating Ohtani on calls with banks and using the baseball star’s passwords to drain his accounts.
“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has been telling lies,” Ohtani told reporters after the scandal emerged. “The first time I knew about his gambling was after the first game when we had the team meeting in the clubhouse.”
Mizuhara had worked alongside Ohtani since 2018, when the Japanese phenom first joined Major League Baseball with the Angels. The interpreter quickly gained unusual access to Ohtani’s personal finances.
He used that trust to place illegal bets on everything from NBA and NFL games to college football and international soccer. The money flowed through various casinos to cover his mounting gambling debts.
“I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting,” Mizuhara said after getting caught. “I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way.”
Mizuhara will begin serving his sentence on March 24. He’s likely to be deported after completing his prison term, since he’s not a U.S. citizen.
The sentence was exactly what prosecutors wanted, though Mizuhara’s lawyers had asked for just 18 months. He originally faced up to 33 years in prison.
