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Paula Lavigne, ESPN Investigative Reporter
Ippei Mizuhara was charged Wednesday with felony bank fraud after authorities found he stole about $17 million from Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani to pay off gambling debts to an illegal sportsbook. Agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of filing a false tax return.
Mizuhara, 39, who served as Otani’s longtime translator, is expected to enter a guilty plea in the coming weeks. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
A sentencing date has not been set. The combined maximum sentence Mizuhara could receive on both charges would be 33 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine in exchange for his plea, as outlined in the agreement announced Wednesday. –The prosecution plans to recommend a reduced sentence.
According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara must pay Otani full restitution, or $16,975,010.
Ohtani’s publicist also declined to comment, as did the Dodgers.
Federal authorities filed the complaint against Mizuhara on April 11, just three weeks after an ESPN investigation detailing $500,000 in wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account to his book-writing business. Mizuhara initially told ESPN Ohtani sent the money to help pay off a debt, but later changed his story and said Ohtani knew nothing about gambling or wire transfers. Ohtani’s lawyers argued that the slugger was the victim of “grand theft.”
“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is egregious,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a news release. “He used his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Otani and encouraged him to engage in dangerous gambling habits.”
In a statement, National Tax Agency Criminal Investigation Special Agent Tyler Hatcher said, “Mr. Mizuhara used his relationship with Mr. Otani to cover for his own irresponsibility.”
Documents filed Wednesday show Otani, who doesn’t speak English, uses Japanese in everything from answering questions at press conferences to dealing with financial advisors and sports agents to opening bank accounts. The relationship of trust between them and their reliance on an interpreter is detailed in more detail.
Mizuhara began betting with illegal bookmakers in September 2021, and as his losses quickly mounted, he began abusing his access to Otani’s financial accounts to pay off his debts.
Mizuhara took many steps to deceive Otani, including changing the contact information on the baseball player’s bank account so that communications would reach Mizuhara. According to the plea agreement, he also made at least 24 phone calls to banks pretending to be Otani.
In one such attempt, on February 2, 2022, Mizuhara called a representative of a bank called Bank A to send a wire transfer for what Mizuhara claimed was a “car loan.” and confirmed the transaction. A six-digit code was sent via text message to Mizuhara’s cell phone, as the account information had already been changed.
In September 2023, Mizuhara told Otani that she needed $60,000 for dental treatment, and Otani arranged for the money to be given in the form of a check drawn from a business account. However, Mizuhara pocketed the money and instead used Otani’s debit card to pay for a $60,000 dental bill.
The plea agreement also states that Mizuhara filed a false tax return for 2022, citing multiple inaccuracies, including a $4.1 million omission. To do so, he will have to pay an additional $1.15 million in taxes.
ESPN’s Tisha Thompson contributed to this report.
