Shohei Ohtani grateful for investigation into ex-interpreter: ‘Id like to focus on baseball’
Jack Harris April 12, 2024
Just hours after Shohei Ohtanis ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, surrendered to authorities Friday on charges that he stole more than $16 million from the Dodgers’ two-way star, Ohtani himself said he was ready to return to just focusing on baseball.
Im very grateful for the Department of Justices investigation, Ohtani said in Japanese. For me personally, this marks a break from this, and Id like to focus on baseball.
Ohtanis comments Friday were the first he has made publicly regarding the allegations against Mizuhara since a
newspress
conference late last month, when Ohtani first accused his longtime friend and interpreter of secretly stealing money from one of his personal bank accounts to pay off gambling losses Mizuhara had accumulated with an alleged illegal bookmaker in Orange County.
Shohei Ohtani’s former translator Ippei Mizuhara surrenders to federal officials in L.A.
On Friday, Ohtani declined to answer further questions from a Times reporter about the situation.
The 29-year-old slugger was in the Dodgers lineup for Friday nights game, serving as the designated hitter from his customary No. 2 spot in the batting order.
Ohtanis initial story that he had no knowledge of the wire transfers Mizuhara made from his account, that he had never gambled on sports or through an illegal bookmaker, and that he was not aware of the scandal until a Dodgers clubhouse meeting after
the team’stheir
season-opening game in South Korea last month
waswereall
supported by a criminal complaint unveiled Thursday at a
newspress
conference by U.S. Atty. for the Central District of California E. Martin Estrada, who announced the charges against Mizuhara.
According to the complaint, Ohtani did not grant Mizuhara access to the account from which Mizuhara allegedly transferred more than $16 million to a bookmaker, nor did Ohtani realize the transfers had been made until Mizuhara told him following the season-opening game in South Korea.
Plaschke: Shohei Ohtani’s legend continues as a baseball star, not a gambler
The complaint said that investigators did not find any evidence to suggest that [Ohtani] was aware of, or involved in, Mizuharas illegal gambling activity or payment of those debts, after reviewing Ohtanis
cell
phone.
The complaint also cited a text Mizuhara sent to the bookmaker after The Times first reported on the story March 20, in which Mizuhara admitted that technically, I did steal from [Ohtani].
Its all over for me, Mizuhara said in that message.
Ohtani and the Dodgers are hopeful the situation is in the past for them, too, and that the distractions the scandal had created for him and the team will finally be resolved.
