Shohei Ohtani's interpreter Ippei Mizuhara lost over $40 million sports betting from Dec. 2021 to Jan. 2024, according to documents released by federal authorities on Thursday.
The losses encompass a total of roughly 19,000 wagers, with an average bet sizing of just under $13,000. Mizuhara never engaged in betting on baseball, primarily focusing on soccer, basketball and other sports in which he amassed a net loss of $40.7 million.
At one point, Mizuhara even sent a text to his alleged bookmaker Mathew Bowyer stating, "I'm terrible at this sports betting thing huh? Lol."
Mizuhara was charged on Thursday for felony bank fraud after being accused of embezzling over $16 million from Ohtani in order to fund his exorbitant debts.
The federal complaint indicated that Mizuhara had several hundreds of thousands worth of baseball cards and memorability sent to him with Ohtani's stolen money so he could flip the items for profit.
The evidence also shows Mizuhara repeatedly requesting credit and increased betting limits from his alleged bookmaker, whose house was raided by federal authorities late last year.
The largest wager Mizuhara placed was roughly $160,000 while his lowest was about $10. The total amount in losing bets was about $183 million while winnings totaled about $142 million.
A request for comment made to Mizuhara by the Action Network yielded no response.
The charges and federal complaint confirm what Ohtani had said in a press conference in March in which he stated he had no knowledge about the alleged funds nor the gambling operation.
Ohtani has denied any wrongdoing on the matter, and Mizuhara has since upheld that assertion. This is despite initial murkiness regarding the story — which was due in large part to Mizuhara relaying and potentially distorting all messaging to representatives and the media because he was his English language interpreter.
