- Fired Dodgers shortstop Ipei Mizuhara was fired amid a gambling scandal
- Mizuhara had been Ohtani’s translator for years and was a constant presence
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Shohei Ohtani appears to have continued to cut ties with his friend and translator Ipei Mizuhara amid an investigation into his alleged gambling activities.
Mizuhara, Ohtani’s longtime translator, was fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers amid questions about at least $4.5 million in suspicious wire transfers from the pitcher’s bank to a California gambling operation that ESPN reports is under federal investigation.
The Japanese two-way star now appears to have made attempts to further distance himself from his former translator.
The Dodgers’ $700 million man has deleted any photos of Mizuhara from his Instagram account, according to popular Japanese sports website Nikkan Sports.
The outlet reports that there have been several posts featuring Mizuhara, including a photo of the translator with Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout during his time on the other side of Los Angeles.
As of Saturday morning, there appeared to be no sign of Mizuhara on Ohtani’s social media platform.
Mizuhara had worked with Ohtani for years and was a constant presence with him at major league clubs. When Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels in December, the Dodgers also hired Mizuhara.
Mizuhara’s social media deletion comes less than 24 hours after MLB announced it had opened an investigation into his activities.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Ohtani’s name came up in an investigation by federal investigators of Southern California bookie Mathew Bowyer, which led his lawyers to Mizuhara.
About $4.5 million in wire transfer payments were allegedly sent from Ohtani’s account to someone working on Bowyer’s behalf.
Ohtani’s spokespeople first told ESPN on Tuesday that the 29-year-old hitman was covering Mizuhara’s massive gambling debts. Later, after ESPN spoke with Mizuhara about the allegations, Ohtani’s spokespeople dismissed the network translator’s comments, instead offering a statement from attorneys representing the two-time MVP.
“In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei was the victim of a large-scale theft and we are referring the matter to the authorities,” Ohtani’s law firm, Berk Brettler LLP, said in a statement.
The statement did not specifically accuse Mizuhara of theft, but the Los Angeles Times reports that the translator is accused of bilking Ohtani out of millions. Meanwhile, ESPN reports that Mizuhara is at least $4.5 million in debt.
ESPN revealed Friday that they followed a tip for months before finally being able to ask questions about it Monday while Ohtani was with the Dodgers in South Korea.
The translator claims he didn’t know Bowyer’s surgery was illegal — and that his debt had ballooned to $4 million by early 2023. Then he says he went to Ohtani for help, explained his situation and that Ohtani was said “it’s not” not happy about it but said he would help me.
Mizuhara was asked if Ohtani – who has been vocal against gambling – knew he was in debt to a bookie, to which the interpreter replied that Ohtani had “no idea”.
After Ohtani sent the money, Mizuhara told ESPN he promised he would send his friend all the money back eventually.
The Dodgers opened their season in Seoul with a 5-2 win over the Padres. After that game, Dodgers officials explained the situation to the club — saying that Ohtani had helped cover Mizuhara’s losses and that the story would soon hit the press.
But Ohtani began questioning what was said and told his representatives that he did not recognize Mizuhara’s account of events.
Dodgers officials and Ohtani’s spokesman said they relied on Mizuhara to communicate with Ohtani while they dealt with the situation — and that Mizuhara did not tell Ohtani what was going on. On Wednesday, Ohtani claimed he discovered the money was missing from his account for the first time.
Ohtani’s lawyers then issued a statement to ESPN saying Shohei “was the victim of a massive theft and we are contacting the authorities.” Mizuhara was fired shortly after the statement was released.
ESPN contacted Mizuhara again, and he admitted he lied in his previous interview. He denied over the phone that he was represented by Ohtani’s people, that he was not being paid to say so and that he had not made any deals. He confirmed that he had lied to Shohei, but denied that he had bet on baseball.
When asked by ESPN, “Did you take the money from Shohei’s accounts without his knowledge?”, Mizuhara did not respond.
Ohtani’s spokespeople said Mizuhara was able to control the information relayed to him through his position as an interpreter — and that Ohtani didn’t realize what was happening until the clubhouse meeting after the game, when a new interpreter was brought in.
Ohtani’s representatives also said they have filed charges with law enforcement to begin an investigation.