Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Shohei Ohtani, agreed to plead guilty last May to bank and tax fraud charges in a sports betting case in which prosecutors contended he stole more than US$16 million to the Japanese to pay off his debts.
This scandal hit the star player before his first season with the Dodgers, but since then, with a World Series in his pocket and an MVP title, we no longer really talk about this affair.
Except that Ohtani has not yet finished this saga for his part and it is not necessarily the millions of dollars less in his account that interests him.
In court filings this week, Ohtani points out that Mizuhara had access to his bank accounts since 2021 and allegedly used hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase baseball cards and collectibles.
More precisely, we would be talking about cards obtained on Ebay and other sites for $325,000.
Without mentioning monetary compensation, Ohtani’s representatives are demanding the return of the cards to their client.
All this adds to the legal battle of Mizuhara who will have to respond to accusations of fraud in addition to managing his declarations with the American tax authorities. He would also risk deportation to Japan.
Ohtani’s ex-interpreter had explained in court that he repaid sports betting debts with the star player’s money. As the betting did not cover baseball, according to the evidence, Ohtania was quickly removed from illicit activities in the eyes of the MLB.
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