Los Angeles
CNN
—
Ippei Mizuhara, a former interpreter for baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, is facing federal charges of bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from the player, Los Angeles, USA. The lawyer made the announcement Thursday.
Federal prosecutor Martin Estrada announced that Mizuhara made fraudulent money transfers from Otani's bank account from November 2021 to January 2024.
Because of Japanese star Ohtani's limited English, Mizuhara used his close relationship with Ohtani, a longtime friend and constant companion, to exploit “his greed, primarily for illegal sports betting.” to meet their needs,” Estrada said.
“Mr. Otani is considered the victim in this case,” the prosecutor said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said, “While Ohtani provided his cell phone to law enforcement, law enforcement has no evidence to suggest that Ohtani was aware of or involved in Mizuhara's illegal gambling activities or debt payments.'' I decided that.”
CNN has reached out to Mizuhara's lawyer for comment.
Mizuhara agreed to surrender to federal authorities on Friday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a news release. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles later that afternoon, spokesman Tom Mrozek said.
“We expect the court to order Mr. Mizuhara to be released on bond. He will not be asked to plead to the bank fraud charges at Friday's hearing,” Mrozek said in a release.
Estrada said Thursday that Mizuhara helped the baseball phenom open a bank account in 2018, shortly after Ohtani immigrated to the United States from Japan.
However, Mizuhara refused to meet with Ohtani's other professional advisers, including his agent, accountant and financial advisor, prosecutors said.
Estrada said phone and bank records showed Mizuhara accessed Otani's account online. And in 2021, Mizuhara began sports betting with a group of bookmakers associated with illegal gambling activities, prosecutors said.
“We do not believe any bets were placed on the baseball game,” Estrada said. However, “as time went on, Mr. Mizuhara's bets became more and more frequent. And as time went on, Mr. Mizuhara's bets became more and more expensive.”
Estrada said the prize money was not placed in Otani's account, but was transferred to Mizuhara's personal account.
According to Estrada, Mizuhara also impersonated Otani in an attempt to get banks to approve large wire transfers to bookmakers.
“Mr. Mizuhara committed a large-scale fraud,” the prosecutor said.
Estrada said authorities obtained a recording of a phone call in which Mizuhara allegedly lied to bank employees that he was Otani and provided personal biographical information to get approval for the transfer.
“If these transfers had been approved, there would have been no reason for Mr. Mizuhara to impersonate Mr. Otani on the phone call with the bank,” Estrada said.
The allegations became public while the Dodgers were in South Korea for the MLB Opening Series in March. ESPN and the Los Angeles Times reported that Ohtani's lawyers have accused Mizuhara of “grand theft” of millions of dollars and betting with a bookmaker who is under federal investigation.
“We are aware that, following a thorough federal investigation, the United States Attorney's Office has charged Mr. Mizuhara with bank fraud,” Major League Baseball said in a statement Thursday. “Given the information disclosed today and other information we have already collected, we will wait for the resolution of the criminal case to determine whether further investigation is warranted.”
Estrada said Mizuhara, who was fired last month after the theft charges came to light, is scheduled to appear in federal court in the coming days on bank fraud charges.
If convicted, Mizuhara could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN's Nick Watt contributed to this report.
