Report: Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter negotiating guilty plea for theft

Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara is in negotiations with federal investigators about pleading guilty to charges of stealing from Ohtani’s bank account, according to a report from Tim Arango and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. 

Ohtani has publicly accused Mizuhara — a longtime friend — of stealing from his accounts to pay off gambling debts which the interpreter had accrued.

A few weeks ago, ESPN reported that more than $4.5M had been wired from Ohtani’s account to an illegal bookmaker in Southern California. The New York Times now reports that federal prosecutors have found evidence indicating that Mizuhara siphoned more than that initially reported $4.5M figure, in part by disabling notifications that Ohtani would have received from his bank about account transactions.

The gambling debts first became public in late March while the Dodgers were playing the Padres in South Korea. Initially, Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani had wired the money to the bookmaker to cover the debt. Mizuhara subsequently retracted that statement, telling ESPN the next day that Ohtani had been unaware of the entire situation. 

The two-time MVP said the same, releasing a statement accusing Mizuhara of stealing the money and referring the matter to the authorities.

Both Ohtani and Mizuhara have stated that the two-way star did not place any bets. Mizuhara indicated that the bets were his alone but denied that he ever placed a bet related to baseball.

Wednesday's report from Arango and Schmidt adds context to the conflicting stories. According to the New York Times, Mizuhara and Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo of CAA, initially tried to manage the public relations fallout without informing Ohtani. 

The Times writes that Mizuhara first told Balelo that Ohtani had covered debts for an unnamed teammate. He then changed his story and admitted the debts were his own but still claimed that Ohtani agreed to pay them, which is the version of events he initially told ESPN.

According to the Times report, Mizuhara then provided that same account when speaking in English to the L.A. clubhouse. Ohtani, who was present for that clubhouse address, told reporters two weeks ago that he confronted his friend thereafter. At that point, according to Ohtani, Mizuhara admitted that he had stolen the money. The Dodgers fired him at that point.

The version of events laid out in the Times report aligns with Ohtani’s public declaration that he was unaware of Mizuhara’s activities and played no role in the gambling scheme. Of course, neither the legal process nor MLB’s investigation have been completed. 

Neither the U.S. attorney’s office nor anyone from MLB has commented publicly since Ohtani’s statement on March 25. Arango and Schmidt report that Ohtani has met with authorities in recent weeks.