Representatives of Dodgers famous person Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday accused his interpreter of partaking in a “large theft” of the ballplayer’s funds to put bets with an allegedly unlawful bookmaker who’s the goal of a federal investigation.
Legal professionals for Ohtani made that declare after The Occasions discovered that Ohtani’s identify had surfaced within the investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an Orange County resident. Ohtani’s representatives appeared into the actions of the interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in response to The Occasions’ queries, a supply near the matter stated. Two sources instructed the newspaper that the cash concerned was within the tens of millions of {dollars}.
In a press release, the West Hollywood legislation agency Berk Brettler, stated, “In the midst of responding to current media inquiries, we found that Shohei has been the sufferer of a large theft and we’re turning the matter over to the authorities.”
Makes an attempt to succeed in Mizuhara have been unsuccessful. Mizuhara positioned bets with Bowyer, in response to the sources, who requested anonymity to share delicate info.
The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Mizuhara, a workforce spokesman stated.
One of many sources stated that Mizuhara was not truthful when requested about The Occasions’ inquiries. He was nonetheless decoding for Ohtani on Wednesday in Seoul.
Ohtani, a worldwide sensation who signed a file 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December after taking part in six years with the Angels, couldn’t be reached for remark. He’s with the Dodgers in Seoul for a season-opening sequence in opposition to the San Diego Padres.
Main League Baseball has not been contacted by prosecutors, a spokesman stated.
Bowyer has not been charged with a criminal offense, his legal professional, Irvine-based Diane Bass stated. Federal brokers raided Bowyer’s San Juan Capistrano dwelling final 12 months as a part of the investigation.
Bass instructed The Occasions that Bowyer by no means had contact with Ohtani. “Mathew Bowyer by no means met, spoke with, or texted, or had contact in any method with Shohei Ohtani,” she stated.
The U.S. legal professional’s workplace in L.A., which is overseeing the investigation, didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Publication
Transcend the scoreboard
Get the most recent on L.A.’s groups within the every day Sports activities Report publication.
Chances are you’ll often obtain promotional content material from the Los Angeles Occasions.
MLB playing coverage prohibits “any participant, umpire, or Membership or League official or worker” from betting on the sport or making unlawful bets on different sports activities. The punishment for playing with an unlawful bookmaker or their agent isn’t laid out in MLB guidelines, however is left as much as “such penalty because the Commissioner deems applicable in gentle of the information and circumstances of the conduct.”
The investigation into Bowyer includes the identical prosecution workforce that has focused a multimillion-dollar unlawful sports activities playing scheme anchored in Orange County, in response to The Occasions’ sources and court docket information. At the very least a dozen individuals have been charged in that wider probe — together with ex-Dodger Yasiel Puig, who has pleaded not responsible — that centered on a bookmaking operation led by former minor league baseball participant Wayne Nix of Newport Seashore, the information present.
Mizuhara was born in Japan however grew up in Southern California. He graduated from Diamond Bar Excessive Faculty in 2003, the place he performed on the soccer workforce, then attended UC-Riverside.
Mizuhara first crossed paths with Ohtani whereas working as an English-language interpreter for American gamers on the Nippon-Ham Fighters, Ohtani’s Japanese workforce within the Nippon Skilled Baseball league.
When Ohtani signed with the Angels in late 2017, Mizuahara turned his private interpreter. Mizuhara adopted Ohtani to the Dodgers through the offseason.
Mizuhara has been a relentless companion of the extraordinarily non-public Ohtani all through the participant’s MLB profession. The 2 sometimes drive to the ballpark collectively. Mizuhara carried out grocery runs when Ohtani was injured. They’re hardly ever seen aside round workforce amenities. Their wives even appeared to have struck up a relationship lately, spending time collectively through the workforce’s present journey to South Korea.
Lately, Ohtani has change into the face of Main League Baseball and some of the celebrated athletes on the planet. Earlier than he signed with the Dodgers, Ohtani was probably the most sought-after free agent in baseball historical past, and his gargantuan contract is equally unprecedented.
Bowyer has appeared in quite a few court docket filings over time. That features a $1.75 million judgment in opposition to him for defaulting on a line of credit score — a “marker,” in playing parlance — issued to him by Foxwoods Resort On line casino, a tribal gaming corridor in Connecticut. A tribal court docket imposed the judgment in April 2019; an legal professional for the on line casino filed an software to enter the judgment in Orange County Superior Court docket in Might 2023. The on line casino legal professional stated the judgment has not been happy.
The Aria Resort and On line casino in Las Vegas alleged in a lawsuit filed in July 2011 that Bowyer bounced a $250,000 examine to the institution. The case was dismissed six months later.
Occasions Employees writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris contributed to this report.
