Prosecutors have found evidence that Ippei Mizuhara may have stolen more money from the baseball star than the original $4.5 million he was charged with. New York Times mentionted
Almost three weeks After Major League Baseball opened an investigation into illegal gambling and theft allegations against former Dodgers star interpreter Shohei Ohtani, Ippei Mizuhara is reportedly negotiating a plea deal for the alleged theft, according to the New York Times.
The NYT, citing three people briefed on the matter, described the investigation into the allegations as “quickly nearing completion.” Federal prosecutors found evidence that Mizuhara may have stolen more than the initial $4.5 million reported last month, according to NYTwhich adds that investigators believe they have evidence that Mizuhara changed Ohtani's bank account settings so that the baseball player would not be notified of any transactions.
The investigation is being conducted by the Los Angeles Criminal Division offices of the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
Last month, news of the allegations against the athlete's longtime translator first broke with a Los Angeles Times article. The newspaper reported that Mizuhara was fired amid allegations of illegal gambling, with Ohtani's lawyers accusing the interpreter of stealing the baseball player's money to bet. The athlete's lawyers made the claim afterwards The times learned that Ohtani's name had come up in a federal investigation of alleged illegal bookie Matthew Bowyer.
Shortly after, ESPN released its own report that included excerpts from an interview with Mizuhara, who previously claimed he had asked Ohtani in 2023 to pay off his gambling debts. Before the publication published its article, Mizuhara retracted his statements and claimed that Ohtani knew nothing about his gambling debts and did not wire money to Bauer's associate on his behalf.
Ohtani later released his first public comments and said he was “saddened and shocked” by the illegal gambling allegations against Mizuhara and denied that he placed bets on sports.
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