Shohei Ohtani Denies Betting Scandal, Blames Former Interpreter

TFD – Discover how baseball star Shohei Ohtani is handling the betting scandal, blaming his former interpreter and facing an MLB investigation.

Baseball star Shohei Ohtani, who has been the subject of increasing scrutiny due to a theft and gambling scandal, vehemently denied paying a bookmaker or placing bets on any sport on Monday. Instead, he blamed his former interpreter, who he claimed was stealing money from his account.

Ohtani, who signed baseball’s richest contract during the offseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team favorite in the World Series, told reporters that until he met with his longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara one-on-one five days ago following a team meeting in the clubhouse that left the slugger-pitcher thinking something was amiss, he had no idea that money, allegedly millions of dollars, was being sent from one of his bank accounts to a bookmaker.

The only two-way player in major league baseball, Ohtani, expressed his amazement and sadness over the actions of a trusted person in a statement that Dodgers staffer Will Ireton translated into English.

These were Ohtani’s first public words since the issue surfaced last week. Usually, he avoids media interviews. He acknowledged that the federal and league investigations were still underway and that he was limited in what he could say.

“I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf and I have never gone through a bookmaker to bet on sports,” Ohtani told reporters Monday at Dodger Stadium before an exhibition game against their city rivals, the Los Angeles Angels..

The controversy has raised questions about the public’s perception of one of baseball’s top stars, threatened to overshadow the opening of MLB Opening Day on Thursday, and renewed attention has been paid to the relationship between professional sports and gambling.

Major League Baseball is looking into the situation in an effort to ascertain whether any of its severe regulations prohibiting gambling have been broken. The Internal Revenue Service is also looking into the situation. A gambler who bets on a baseball game in which they are involved can face a lifelong suspension; a player or employee who bets on baseball faces a yearlong suspension. A person who bets with a bookie and ventures outside of authorized sports betting establishments may also face penalties from MLB’s commissioner.

MLB values Rule 21 so highly that each clubhouse must have a poster of it.

Though it’s unknown who started the transactions, ESPN’s Tisha Thompson claimed on CNN’s “The Lead” last week that at least $4.5 million had been taken out of Ohtani’s bank accounts by wire transfer, citing various unidentified sources.

Ohtani’s lawyers have not explained how they think the money was taken, which has raised more concerns about the issue that surfaced during Ohtani’s highly anticipated debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers last week in South Korea.

With the Angels, Ohtani won the American League MVP twice in the previous three seasons while playing as a pitcher and designated hitter. This offseason, he inked an unprecedented 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.

After the Dodgers game, Ohtani claims to have learned about the translator’s debt from gambling.

Last week, while the Dodgers were in South Korea, the scandal erupted. Ohtani’s attorneys had been accusing Mizuhara of “massive theft” of millions of dollars and of placing bets with a federally under investigation bookmaker, according to reports from ESPN and the Los Angeles Times. While the team was in Seoul, Mizuhara was let go.

Ohtani claimed on Monday that he was made aware of the problem on March 20, during a discussion the team had in the clubhouse following the Dodgers’ opening game in South Korea against the San Diego Padres. Ohtani claimed that despite not having a “translator on my side” and that the team meeting was conducted in English, he sensed a problem.

He claimed that he and Mizuhara had a one-on-one meeting at the club’s hotel. Ohtani claimed that prior to that point, he was unaware of Mizuhara’s debt and gambling addiction.

“I discovered he had a significant debt when we spoke,” Ohtani remarked. “Ippei (Mizuhara) acknowledged that he was transferring funds to the bookmaker from my account.”

The translator had told the media and Ohtani’s representatives the player had paid off gambling debts on behalf of a friend, according to the superstar. Ohtani claimed he was unaware of the questions from the media.

CNN has contacted Mizuhara for a response. Last Tuesday, Mizuhara stated to ESPN, “I never gambled on baseball. That is a whole hundred percent. I was aware of that regulation. We will discuss that at our spring training meeting.

Ohtani stated that he will assist with the investigations, let his lawyers handle the scandal and legal matters, and concentrate on playing baseball with his new team. He batted second on Monday as the designated hitter in the lineup against the Angels.

Mizuhara is the subject of separate investigations by the Internal Revenue Service and Major League Baseball.

In a press release last week, officials stated, “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media.” “Our Department of Investigations started their official investigation process earlier today.”

Both Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer are under investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office, IRS spokesman Scott Villiard told CNN on Friday.

According to bankruptcy court filings, Bowyer, a former bookmaker from California, owed $425,000 in gambling debt more than ten years ago.

According to MLB.com, Ohtani and Mizuhara initially collaborated in 2013–2017 when Mizuhara worked as a translator for Ohtani’s team in the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan, the Nippon-Ham Fighters. In his debut MLB season, Ohtani urged Mizuhara to accompany him when he signed with the Angels in 2018. Mizuhara eventually accompanied the star player to the Dodgers.

The bookie’s lawyer addresses CNN

While Bowyer, the former bookmaker under federal investigation for gambling, did business with Mizuhara, his lawyer claimed he never met Ohtani or had “any direct contact” with him.

Matthew Bowyer never spoke with Shohei Ohtani via phone, email, text, or any other means, according to Diane Bass, the lawyer, who talked with CNN on camera on Saturday.

The lawyer added that Ohtani’s interpreter never placed a baseball wager.

When discussing Ohtani’s name on “one of the wire transfers to Bowyer’s organization to cover a bet,” Bass said Saturday, “as far as Mr. Bowyer understood, the bet was from Ippei, or it was being covered by Mr. Ohtani for Ippei.”

Bass noted that Bowyer is not facing any criminal charges, despite being the subject of a federal inquiry. She claimed that in October 2023, Bowyer ceased his bookmaking business because “feds showed up at his house.”

According to Bass, Bowyer met Mizuhara following a Padres game in San Diego in 2022. She said to CNN that although she is unaware of Mizuhara’s frequency or amount of betting, Bowyer informed her that Mizuhara often wagered on sports, “primarily soccer, occasionally football and basketball, but it was never baseball.”

Mizuhara’s gaming “got out of hand at a certain point,” according to Bass, but “he was making regular payments for a significant amount of time.”

Asked whether the payments were coming from Mizuhara’s or Ohtani’s account, Bass replied, “I honestly don’t know how many transfers came from which account(s), (or) whether it was more than one account. I’m not privy to that knowledge,” she said to CNN.

Changing claims and justifications

Reporters started the issue by posing queries regarding purported wire transactions made from Ohtani’s bank account. This is how the controversy developed:

In an interview conducted on Tuesday, which ESPN obtained through Ohtani’s agent, Mizuhara stated that he had requested Ohtani to settle his debt from gambling the previous year. According to Mizuhara, Ohtani was not involved in his betting.

• However, Ohtani’s representative “disavowed” Mizuhara’s version during the interview and subsequently issued a statement claiming Ohtani had been the victim of theft.

• The same day, during the team’s 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres in Wednesday’s MLB season opener in Seoul, South Korea, Mizuhara was spotted grinning in the LA dugout and chatting with Ohtani before filling in for the star.

• Mizuhara lost her job as Ohtani’s interpreter later on Wednesday.

Following its discovery of the claims made against Ohtani and Mizuhara, MLB declared on Friday that it would be opening an inquiry. Additionally, the IRS stated that it was looking into the translator.

Norma Galeana, Eric Levenson, and Cindy Von Quednow of CNN contributed to this story.