The news surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s translation was strange enough until details emerged about how the details had changed over the past 24 hours.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Los Angeles Times revealed the bombshell that Ohtani’s translator, Ippei Mizuhara, had committed a “grand theft” of millions of dollars of the baseball superstar’s funds to place bets with illegal bookmakers. A report was published and the news spread.
But things took an even stranger turn. Ohtani’s spokesperson initially told ESPN. Dodgers players said they transferred funds to cover Mizuwon’s gambling debts and provided an interpreter to the station to explain the situation.
Later, a spokesperson for Ohtani denied Mizuhara’s remarks in a 90-minute conversation with the media and told ESPN that Ohtani’s lawyer would issue a statement.
“In the course of responding to recent media interviews, we learned that Shohei was the victim of grand theft and have decided to refer this matter to authorities,” West Hollywood law firm Burke Buttler said in a statement. he told the Post in a statement.
But in a lengthy conversation with Mizuhara set up by Ohtani’s agent, Mizuhara painted a picture of having to ask Ohtani to repay gambling debts that were said to have reached $4.5 million.
“Obviously he [Ohtani] He wasn’t happy about it and said he would help me not to do it again,” Mizuhara said. “He decided to pay it back for me.
“I want everyone to know that Shohei was never involved in gambling. I want people to know that I had no idea this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. . I will never bet on sports again.”
In his first interview with ESPN, Mizuhara said he had never bet on baseball, and that his bets were focused on international soccer and football, the NBA, and Matthew, a Southern California bookmaker whose operations are being investigated by federal investigators.・He claimed that he started betting through Bowyer. — 2021 in credits.
Mizuhara also said that Ohtani made the wire transfers from his computer over several months in 2023, suggesting that if the two-way player simply gave the money to Mizuhara, he would spend it gambling. He said he was worried that
But the story quickly changed on Wednesday, when Mizuhara withdrew his comments, claiming that Otani actually knew nothing about the gambling debt and had not sent the money to the bookmaker’s clerk.
When the newspaper tried to ask the Otani camp about Mizuhara’s claims, they contacted Otani’s lawyer.
All of this began after Starr’s name was found to have come up during an investigation into Bowyer’s alleged illegal bookbinding activities.
Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday, and the team released a statement saying they were “aware of the media reports and are gathering information.”
