US Attorney’s Office brings charges against MLB translator

Ippei Mizuhara, the translator for Major League Baseball star Shohei Ohtani, has been charged with unlawfully transferring more than $16 million from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off his own gambling debts.

Mizuhara, who also served as Ohtani’s de-facto manager, is said to have made the transfers without the player's knowledge or consent in order to pay off debts he had with an illegal bookmaking business. 

In an interview last week with law enforcement, Ohtani denied authorising Mizuhara’s wire transfers. He provided his cellphone to investigators, who determined that there was no evidence to suggest that Ohtani was aware of, or involved in, Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity or payment of those debts.

Investigators say Mizuhara changed the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account to his own phone number and an anonymous email address. He then used these to falsly identify himself to bank employees, allowing him to authorise wire transfers from Ohtani’s account to associates of the illegal gambling operation.

Mizuhara is charged with bank fraud and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.