Former Ohtani interpreter appears in court after allegedly stealing $16M from Dodgers star

WASHINGTON (TND) — The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani surrendered to federal authorities Friday after allegedly wiring more than $16 million in unauthorized transfers for his gambling debts, ESPN reported.

Ippei Mizuhara, 39, was charged with bank fraud which is a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

He served as Ohtani's interpreter after Ohtani came to the U.S. in 2018 to play baseball and helped him set up a bank account for his salary. U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said during a press conference that Mizhuara lied to the bank to access the account.

Mizuhara was able to "use and abuse" his position of trust with Ohtani "in order to plunder Mr. Ohtani's bank account," he said. Estrada also confirmed that when Mizuhara would win on sports bets, he did not deposit the money into Ohtani's account.

"In September 2021, Mizuhara began gambling with an illegal sports book and, several months later, started losing substantial sums of money, the affidavit states," according to the DOJ. "During this time, the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account allegedly was changed to link the account to Mizuhara’s phone number and to an anonymous email address connected to Mizuhara."

Estrada said there is no evidence that Ohtani was aware of his interpreter's actions, adding that Ohtani has cooperated fully and completely with investigators.

Mizuhara made an initial court appearance on Friday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the Associated Press, United States Magistrate Judge Maria A. Audero ordered Mizhura to undergo gambling addiction treatment. She also ordered Mizuhara to be released on an unsecured $25,000 bond. That means that Mizuhara does not have to put up any cash or collateral to be released. If he violates the conditions of his bond, then he will be on the hook for $25,000, the AP reported. He was not asked to enter a plea.

Other bond conditions stipulate that Mizuhara cannot gamble, either electronically or in-person, or go inside any gambling establishments, or associate with any known bookmakers, the Associated Press explained. Mizuhara is also prohibited from contacting any victim or witness in the case in any form. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 9.

His attorney, Michael G. Freedman told the judge that his client already planned to undergo gambling addiction treatment, the AP reports.

Mizuhara was ordered to to submit to drug testing and surrender his passport and remain within the Central District of California’s jurisdiction. According to the Associated Press, the judge noted his family ties to the area, his longtime residency here and his self-surrender Friday morning when she approved the bond.

Mizuhara was fired by the team on March 20 following alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker.

The MLB said it was investigating the situation two days after Mizuhara was fired.

"Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media," MLB said in a statement. "Earlier today, our Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process investigating the matter."

Ohtani addressed the scandal on March 25 during a press conference and said through an interpreter that he was "saddened and shocked someone whom I trusted has done this."

“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has been telling lies,” Ohtani said. “I never bet on sports or have willfully sent money to the bookmaker.”

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Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.