The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani will likely be charged by federal authorities in connection with a gambling investigation related to a California bookie, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.
Ohtani, who signed a huge deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers late last year, has been assisting in the investigation, the sources said.
TMZ earlier reported that the former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, will be charged, citing law enforcement sources it did not name.
Mizuhara’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday. Representatives for Ohtani also declined to comment.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara on March 21 after Ohtani’s attorneys alleged “massive theft” from him tied sports gambling.
Major League Baseball opened an investigation, and Ohtani on March 25 in his first public comments in the matter said he had been betrayed and lied to, and he denied any involvement in sports betting.
Mizuhara was not only Ohtani’s interpreter but also a close friend and constant presence of the baseball star’s.
“I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this,” Ohtani said at a news conference in Los Angeles last month.
“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Ohtani said in Japanese with the help of a different interpreter.
The scandal came to light after reports by The Los Angeles Times and ESPN.
The allegations against Mizuhara centered specifically on wire transfers from Ohtani’s account — totaling at least $4.5 million, made in at least nine payments of $500,000 — to a bookmaking operation in Southern California that is currently under federal investigation, a person familiar with Ohtani and Mizuhara’s interactions has told NBC News.
Attorneys for Ohtani at the law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement at the time the allegations came to light that: “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”
Ohtani is one of baseball’s biggest stars.
The Japanese 29-year-old came to the U.S. in 2018 to play for the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, and then in December went to the Dodgers in a huge $700 million, 10-year deal.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
