Ippei Mizuhara’s fleecing of Shohei Ohtani was straightforward for the most part. Ohtani’s former interpreter had access to a bank account full of Ohtani’s money, and he simply wrote checks and withdrew cash whenever he made bets or needed to pay gambling debts.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud in June and was ordered to pay full restitution to his victims, which includes $16,975,010 to Ohtani, and $1,149,400 to the IRS. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 24 in federal court.
But apparently Mizuhara found other ways to steal from Ohtani while the two-way baseball star played for the Angels and after he signed with the Dodgers in December 2023.