LOS ANGELES — Ippei Mizuhara appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday and turned himself in to authorities. He was released on $25,000 bail and will return to court for the next hearing on May 9.
Mizuhara, who had chains around his ankles and wore a suit without a tie, was ordered to surrender his passport, banned from gambling and entering casinos, and instructed not to have no contact with Shohei Ohtani, the star baseball player. from whom he is accused of stealing approximately $16 million. Judge Maria Audero also ordered that Mizuhara undergo a gambling addiction treatment program and that he seek and maintain employment.
The chains were eventually removed at the request of Mizuhara’s attorney, Michael G. Freedman. In a statement, Freedman said Mizuhara “continues to cooperate with the legal process and hopes to be able to reach an agreement with the government to resolve this matter as quickly as possible so that it can take responsibility.”
The statement also said Mizuhara “wishes to apologize to Mr. Ohtani, the Dodgers, Major League Baseball and his family.” As told in court, he is also eager to seek treatment for his gambling.”
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Mizuhara’s appearance Friday at the Roybal Federal Building follows Thursday’s filing of a criminal complaint against Ohtani’s former interpreter, who was fired by the Dodgers on March 20. Federal prosecutors charged Mizuhara with felony bank fraud after an investigation revealed he was transferred. more than $16 million in Ohtani’s bank accounts. The maximum sentence is 30 years in prison.
Mizuhara used the money “largely to finance his voracious appetite for illegal sports gambling,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference in Los Angeles.
According to the complaint, Mizuhara manipulated Ohtani’s bank accounts starting in 2021, around the time Mizuhara began betting on sports. Mizuhara controlled an account that collected Ohtani’s baseball salary. He protected access to the account from others in Ohtani’s orbit, saying the player wanted the account private. Mizuhara also posed as Ohtani in conversations with bank officials, prosecutors said.
Mizuhara and Ohtani met in 2013 while Ohtani was playing in Japan and Mizuhara was working as a translator for the American Nippon Ham Fighters players. When Ohtani signed with the Angels in 2017, Mizuhara joined him as a performer, employed by the Angels. Ohtani also employed him as an assistant and to handle some day-to-day responsibilities – which ultimately included helping Ohtani open bank accounts and getting involved in other areas of the two-way star’s financial affairs.
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(Top photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)