Prosecutors expose Ippei Mizuhara’s LIES about gambling addiction in $17 million fraud case involving Shohei Ohtani
Ippei Mizuhara found guilty of lying about gambling addiction as he pleaded for lighter sentence in money fraud case.
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Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani [Image Credit: Imago]
New evidence regarding Ippei Mizuhara’s gambling case has come to light. Prosecutors submit evidence that Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter did not have any gambling addiction like he claimed weeks back at the court.
Mizuhara pleaded for a lighter sentence of 18 months instead of 3 years as prosecutors usually claim in these types of cases. He indirectly blamed Ohtani for his actions saying it was draining to be by his side 24/7.
Furthermore, Ippei Mizuhara claimed that he had to rent in costly areas in LA as well as pay for an apartment back in Japan which drained his accounts. New evidence found that he had more than $34,000 in his accounts in 2023 and more than $195,000 in March 2024.
His claims of being in “tremendous debt” came to light as proof about the case was evident that he had no intention of repaying Shohei Ohtani. Earlier Mizuhara said that his gambling addiction led him to frequent the casinos “four to five times a week” but no evidence of his claims were found.
All defendants claim to be remorseful at the time of sentencing. The question courts must answer is whether the defendant is truly remorseful or whether they are just sorry they were caught.
Prosecutors wrote as per Tisha Thompson of ESPN.in.
Mizuhara’s attorney Michael Freedman has declined to comment following Thursday’s court filing. The prosecutors said that “only minimal evidence” was found of him placing bets both in casinos and on online sites like DraftKings.
According to reports, Mizuhara placed bets ranging from $5 to $1,400 on NHL, NBA, soccer, and college baseball games. Even with his gambling debts, he had enough on his account to pay the bookie, but he chose to steal from Shohei Ohtani instead.
A lot of people owe Shohei Ohtani an apology.
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) January 24, 2025
Here is audio of his former translator, Ippei Mizuhara, pretending to be Shohei while on the phone with the bank.
pic.twitter.com/5tXZaaEDUH
He even used the two-way star’s debit card to pay off his rent. Ohtani even gave Mizuhara a Porsche to drive following the prosecutor’s evidence of Mizuhara having no rent, car payments, or loans to worry about.
As per the latest filing, Ippei Mizuhara prosecutors are pushing back their initial 57 months in prison request with 3 years of supervised release, more than $16 million restitution to Ohtani, and $1.1 million to the IRS.
Reports emerge of Ippei Mizuhara controlling Shohei Ohtani’s life
In a discussion on Foul Territory, Scott Braun commented on how several reports from teammates and the front office claimed that Shohei Ohtani appeared to be a completely different individual than he was with Ippei Mizuhara. Their claims further pointed out that Mizuhara was controlling Ohtani’s access to his friends and others to hide his wrong intentions.
Ohtani not being fluent in English was in favor of Mizuhara as could interpret and manipulate the two-way star in his social life. Furthermore, many claimed that Ohtani was much more lively when Mizuhara was not around.
Shohei Ohtani has been a different guy without Ippei. pic.twitter.com/cTLb0Z6tqZ
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) January 24, 2025
Ippei Mizuhara’s $17 million gambling case shook the MLB world back in March 2024. The prosecutors wrote that Mizuhara showed no evidence of remorse after stealing rather, he tried to justify his case. He is expected to be hearing his sentence on February 6.
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Kaushani Chatterjee
(2169 Articles Published)