Shohei Ohtani’s baseball career has always read like something out of a sports documentary – a two-way superstar, multiple MVPs, record-breaking contracts, and a 2x World Series champion, and counting. But in early 2024, when the Dodgers were preparing to unleash their newest megastar, Ohtani found himself drawn into a controversy that had nothing to do with baseball.

Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and day-to-day companion, Ippei Mizuhara, was accused of stealing millions to cover his gambling addiction! What followed were months of investigation, confused statements, and changing narratives. Here is a breakdown of how everything happened and how Ohtani was cleared.

Who Is Ippei Mizuhara? About Shohei Ohtani’s Former Interpreter

Before turning into the center of a national fiasco, Ippei Mizuhara was simply known as Shohei Ohtani’s voice – literally! His career in this realm really began in 2007 when he translated for Hideki Okajima with the Boston Red Sox. By 2013, he had moved to Japan to play with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, where he first met 18-year-old Ohtani.

Their closeness grew, and he followed Ohtani to MLB in 2018 when the Angels signed both the Japanese star and his trusted interpreter. Mizuhara handled everything from medical translations to helping Ohtani navigate through the cultural changes in America.

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When Ohtani signed with the Dodgers in 2023, Mizuhara was hired again. But in 2024, the bond that lasted over a decade vanished.

Federal authorities charged Mizuhara with bank fraud after he impersonated Ohtani to transfer money from his account. According to investigators, Mizuhara placed 19,000 bets on sports over two and a half years, and none of them were on baseball, but each one of them was illegal.

He later pleaded guilty to bank fraud and to filing a false tax return, and admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the star. In 2025, he was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, ordered to repay Ohtani and the IRS, and is expected to be deported back to Japan after serving his time.

What to Know About MLB’s Investigation Into the Dodger Star’s Interpreter

When the scandal first surfaced, the first thought was: Did Ohtani know? Even MLB wanted to know, and so they launched their own investigation after the federal probe had already started months earlier.

Initially, Mizuhara and Ohtani’s spokesperson suggested that Shohei Ohtani had voluntarily wired the money to clear his interpreter’s debt, but the story changed the next day.

Ohtani addressed the media himself, saying that he had been “shocked” to find his funds were stolen and that he had never indulged in gambling either.

As the investigators did their job, Mizuhara revealed that Ohtani had no involvement whatsoever, and he confessed to impersonating Ohtani on bank calls and using his access to make the big transfers.

Federal agencies uncovered the entire gist of the scheme – Mizuhara made nearly 20,000 bets and won around $142 million, lost about $183 million, and covered those losses with Ohtani’s account.

After Mizuhara pleaded guilty, MLB officially closed the investigation, declaring Ohtani a victim of fraud. They mentioned they left no stone unturned and found that the superstar did not indicate being involved in any kind of gambling. The entire drama even ended up in a series! 

From Bets to Theft: Ohtani Aide Ippei Mizuhara’s Debt Timeline

Mizuhara’s addiction to gambling didn’t erupt all at once; it increased every time through a nasty and dangerous pattern.

The story started in 2021 when he met a Southern California bookmaker by the name of Matthew Bowyer at a poker game in San Diego. Then shortly after, Bowyer’s associate provided him access to an illegal betting site.

Within weeks, Mizuhara was dabbling in soccer bets, asking how the withdrawals and the payments worked. By the fall of 2021, he struggled with debts, and text messages captured his anxiety as he scrambled to send money. He described the situation as “super stressful” even as he continued to request more credit.

But the real downfall began in 2022.

He admitted that in the first week of the first month, he lost everything and asked for $50,000 in credit – something that happened repeatedly. By February, he was wiring thousands of dollars at a time, and the bets escalated, some as small as $10, others as big as $160,000.

By mid-2022, his losses mounted to $1 million, and even then, Bowyer kept extending his credit and simply fueling his addiction. Then, in 2023, his desperation only increased, and in May, Bowyer told him he would need $2 million to be wired soon.

By June, Mizuhara promised weekly payment of $500,000. He sent some using Ohtani’s money, but the payments stopped. Yet, instead of disengaging, Mizuhara fell deeper into the hole.

In early 2024, he spent over $300,000 of Ohtani’s money on baseball cards under an alias, hoping to flip them for profit. But it didn’t work.

Everything collapsed on March 20, 2024, when the news broke that over $4.5 million had been wired from Ohtani to Bowyer. Mizuhara first lied to ESPN, but later confessed to Ohtani being unaware.

When Bowyer tried to reassure him, Mizuhara replied bluntly, “Technically, I did steal from him. It’s all over for me.”