The Los Angeles Dodgers fired Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, because they think he stole something related to illegal gambling.
Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Fired After Theft Reports
According to ESPN, Shohei Ohtani transferred over $4.5 million (£3.5 million) from his bank account to a bookmaker. It’s important to note that Ohtani himself is not being accused of doing anything wrong.
On Tuesday, Mr. Mizuhara talked to the sports network about the money he owes from gambling.
This news comes as Ohtani played his first game of the season with the Dodgers.
The team’s communications chief informed the weeklywakeup that they are collecting information and confirmed the dismissal of interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
ESPN looked at bank records that showed Shohei Ohtani’s name on two payments of $500,000 each. These payments were sent to a gambling operation run by Mathew Bowyer. One payment was sent in September and the other in October.
The Los Angeles Times looked into Mr. Bowyer because they thought he might be involved in a big illegal sports betting scheme worth millions of dollars. However, they didn’t find enough evidence to charge him with a crime.
Betting on sports is allowed in 38 states in America, but it’s still against the law in California.
Major League Baseball has a rule that says no player, umpire, or anyone who works for a team or the league can bet on baseball games or make bets with illegal bookies.
Mr. Mizuhara told ESPN that he asked the famous baseball player for assistance with the money he owed from gambling.
“Clearly, Ohtani wasn’t pleased and told me he’d assist me to prevent such a mistake in the future,” Mr. Mizuhara allegedly said.
“I want everyone to be aware that Shohei had no involvement in any betting.” I also want people to know that I didn’t realize it was against the rules. I’ve learned my lesson now and I promise I won’t bet on sports again.”
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At first, someone speaking for Ohtani told ESPN that the ex-Los Angeles Angels player gave money to pay off his interpreter’s gambling debts. But now they’re saying that’s not true.
Mr. Mizuhara has now said something different. He’s saying that Ohtani didn’t know about the gambling debts and didn’t send the money.
Ohtani’s lawyers say his interpreter stole a lot.
“We found out that Shohei has had a lot of his stuff stolen. We’re letting the police deal with it,” said a statement from Berk Brettler, a law firm in West Hollywood, in response to questions from the media.
The weeklywakeup asked the law firm to confirm something.
Ohtani just got a huge deal with the Dodgers! He signed a contract for 10 years worth $700 million. This happened after he won his second MVP award in the American League, and everyone agreed he deserved it.
Mr. Ohtani arrived in the US in 2018 and has been regularly accompanied by Mr. Mizuhara. Recently, a photo emerged showing Mr. Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, confirming speculation after several weeks.
Mr. Mizuhara is really good at translating Ohtani’s words into simple English that people in Japan really like.
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