The Los Angeles Dodgers fired the interpreter for star pitcher Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday amid allegations tied to sports gambling and theft.
Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime interpreter for Ohtani, is being accused of “massive theft” that Ohtani's legal team alleges is tied to gambling, the Los Angeles Times and CNN reported.
Mizuhara is accused of stealing millions of dollars and placing bets with a bookmaker under federal investigation, according to reports.
“In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,” Ohtani’s law firm, Berk Brettler LLP, told CNN.
The Dodgers “can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated,” the Dodgers said in a release.
It’s unclear how the interpreter allegedly stole the money.
According to ESPN and CNN, Ohtani’s spokesman initially said that Ohtani was covering the gambling debts of his longtime friend and interpreter.
Additionally, in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday, Mizuhara originally said wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account to an alleged bookmaking operation were to cover his losses, but that Ohtani had zero involvement in the betting. According to reports, Mizuhara said he didn’t know his gambling was illegal and that, despite being unhappy about the situation, Ohtani agreed to pay the debts.
However, as ESPN was getting ready to publish its story Wednesday, Ohtani’s lawyers released the statement saying he was a victim of theft, as reported by CNN.
Mizuhara and Ohtani worked together from 2013 to 2017 at Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League team Nippon-Ham Fighters, where Mizuhara worked as an interpreter for non-Japanese speaking players, according to MLB.com. After Ohtani asked Mizuhara to join him in Los Angeles, Mizuhara became Ohtani’s interpreter in his rookie season with his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, in 2018.
