Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani faced the media on Monday and categorically denied ever betting on sports. He also called his friend and former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara a liar.
Mizuhara is accused of placing illegal bets on non-baseball sporting events with a bookie named Matthew Bowyer. According to Otani’s lawyer, Mizuhara ran up $4.5 million in gambling debt and stole that amount from Otani to pay it off. Initially, representatives for Mizuhara and Otani said that Otani had given Mizuhara the money to pay off a debt.
On Monday, Ohtani said that never happened.
“I’m very sad and shocked that someone I trusted would do something like this,” Ohtani said, sitting next to his new interpreter Will Ireton.
Shohei Ohtani said Monday that he has never bet on sports and never intentionally paid off gambling debts accumulated by his longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Rather, the Los Angeles Dodgers star claims his best friend lied to him for years and stole millions of dollars from the two-time MVP. pic.twitter.com/BLoVNVFxlU
— Associated Press (@AP) March 26, 2024
“Ippei continues to steal money from my account and lie to me,” Otani said. “I have never bet on sports, nor have I knowingly sent money to a bookmaker.”
Otani spoke to a room filled with reporters but did not take questions. Still, he tried to answer the questions on everyone’s mind.
“I have never bet on baseball or any other sport, nor have I asked anyone to bet on my behalf, nor have I used a bookmaker to bet on sports. I was never asked to help pay money,” Ohtani said.
Shohei Otani poses for a photo with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara (right) and agent Nez Valero (left) after being introduced by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on December 14, 2023. . (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Dodgers star was adamant about Mizuhara changing his story after Ohtani claimed in an interview with ESPN that he had paid the debt.
“This is all a complete lie,” Ohtani said. “Ippei obviously basically didn’t tell me about the media investigation. So even though Ippei was telling people around him that he was communicating with me on this account to the media and the team, That wasn’t true.”
Otani continued, “Right before the meeting, Mr. Ippei told me, “Let’s talk one-on-one at the hotel after the meeting.” So I didn’t know that Ippei had been doing this until the team meeting. I didn’t,” he continued. He was addicted to gambling and had debts. Obviously, I never agreed to repay the debt or pay the bookie, but when he finally got back to the hotel, he found out he was in a lot of debt. And it became clear to me during that meeting. Ippei reportedly admitted that he had been using my account to send money to a bookmaker. At that moment, it was unreasonable, so at that point I contacted a representative. ”
On Monday, it was reported that in addition to MLB’s investigation, the IRS is also investigating Mizuhara over financial transactions with Bowyer.
