REPORT: Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Was Also Using The Dodgers Star’s Money To Fund His Absurd Hobby

Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara (Photos via Getty images)
Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been charged with fraud following his firing from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mizuhara is accused of stealing over $16 million from the star pitcher, way more than the $4 million initially reported. While most of that was used to pay off gambling debt, a 37-page complaint shows he also spent $325,000 of Ohtani’s money on baseball cards.

The U.S. Attorney’s office claims Mizuhara used Ohtani’s bank account to fund purchases on eBay and Whatnot. He is understood to have bought around 1,000 cards between January and late March using the alias “Jay Min,” per Sports Collectors Daily.

Some of the cards were mailed to him in care of the Dodgers, with Mizuhara instructing a staffer who handles mail for the team to set them aside for him.

Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Lost An Incredible Amount Of Money

Investigators believe that Mizuhara, who used an illegal California bookmaker to place his wagers, was planning to sell the cards later on.

For the most part, the money Mizuhara is accused of stealing was used to cover his debt from 2021 to early 2024. He is believed to have gambled an average of 25 times per day.

Mizuhara has been accused of placing 19,000 bets with a net loss of $40.7 million but didn’t bet on any baseball games, as far as investigators know.

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At my wedding, my grandfather handed me an old passbook. My father quickly took it and said, “That bank shut down in the ’80s—he’s just confused.”

Part 2 “Mr. Mercer?” he said again, his voice carrying the weight of bad news and good news tangled together so tightly they were impossible to separate. The second executive,…

Part 2 + 3: I kept $20M in my mom’s safe. Next morning she was gone with it—and I laughed because of what was inside

Part 2 Because the black bag they raced out of that house with only had… Twenty million dollars in perfectly printed counterfeit bills. I had swapped the real purchase packet…

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My sister switched my baby powder with flour as a joke during a family visit. Thirty seconds after I used it, my six-month-old baby stopped breathing. I rushed her to the hospital…

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Part 2: I am 65 years old. I got divorced 5 years ago. My ex-husband left me a bank card with 3,000 dollars. I never touched it. Five years later, when I went to withdraw that money…

Part 2 The manager’s heels clicked across the polished tile like a countdown. She was in her early sixties, silver hair pulled into a neat bun, navy suit tailored sharp…

Part 2: At my wedding, my grandfather handed me an old passbook. My father quickly took it and said, “That bank shut down in the ’80s—he’s just confused.”

Mr. Mercer?” the second executive repeated, his voice low and measured, like a man delivering news that could tilt the rest of a life. His name tag read Richard Harlan,…

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REPORT: Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Was Also Using...