MLB launches investigation into Shohei Ohtani's gambling scandal

Major League Baseball officially opened an investigation into illegal gambling and theft allegations involving Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Shoei Ohtani's longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

In a statement Friday, the league's commissioner's office shared that it has begun the process to investigate the matter after Ohtani's lawyers accused the Dodgers star's longtime interpreter of stealing millions of dollars from the athlete to cover bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker .

“Major League Baseball has been collecting information since we learned of the allegations regarding Shohei Ohtani and Ippei (Mizuhara) from the media,” the commissioner's office said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “Earlier today, our Investigations Department began the formal process of investigating the matter.”

Mizuhara, Ohtani's close friend and interpreter, was accused of “mass theft” and using the athlete's funds to cover bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker. In a statement to The Athlete on Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers confirmed that Mizuhara had been fired. (Rolling rock has a complete collapse of the scandal.)

“In response to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei was a victim of mass theft and are reporting the matter to the authorities,” law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement earlier this week.

The IRS confirmed Thursday that Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the illegal bookie, are under criminal investigation through the agency's Los Angeles field office, according to the AP. Bowyer reportedly dealt directly with Mizuhara, who is betting on soccer and other sports – except baseball – starting in 2021, sources said ESPN. The payments were transferred from Ohtani's account to an associate of Bowyer's, according to sources and bank records reviewed by the outlet.

According to LA Timesthe investigation into Bowyer involves the same prosecution team investigating a multimillion-dollar illegal sports gambling scheme surrounding a betting operation led by former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix of Newport Beach.