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Los Angeles Dodger
Shohei Ohtani‘s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired for his involvement in illegal sports betting.
Investigative ESPN reporter Tisha Thompson unearthed at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from Ohtani’s bank account to a California bookmaking operation run by Mathew Bowyer. Bowyer is already under federal investigation, which has led to a raid of his home, where agents seized cash, casino chips, banking documents, a money counting machine, and more.
It began when the wire transfers seemed suspicious to the press. After it was mentioned to Ohtani’s team, a spokesman told ESPN that Ohtani was aware of the wire transfers and sent them to the bookmaker to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debts. Bowyer let Mizuhara bet on international soccer games as well as the
NBA, the
NFL, and college football, but never on baseball, beginning in 2021.
Mizuhara then did a 90-minute interview with ESPN, explaining the wire transfer, but when ESPN attempted to publish the story Wednesday, Ohtani’s team switched up their story, saying that Mizuhara’s actions were done without him knowing, declaring it a “massive theft” and they were going to get authorities involved.
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Despite his name being on the wire transfer, Mizuhara maintains that Ohtani isn’t a gambler and was trying to help out his friend after he racked up more than $4 million in debt.
“Obviously, he wasn’t happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again. He decided to pay it off for me,” told ESPN. “I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again.”
However, his tune changed the next day. He told ESPN that the Dodgers superstar had no idea he was a gambler and didn’t give him the money.
Social media finds the story fishy and is unsure how involved Ohtani actually is in the illegal gambling ring.
See the best reactions below.
