The star of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani, informed reporters on Sunday that he will respond to inquiries on Monday about the charges of theft and unlawful gambling made against Ippei Mizuhara, his former translator.
Ohtani’s attorneys charged Mizuhara with “massive theft” on Wednesday after learning that at least $4.5 million of Ohtani’s funds had been wired to a bookmaking enterprise that was the subject of a federal probe. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara on Wednesday.
Major League Baseball announced Friday that it has opened an investigation into the allegations involving Ohtani and Mizuhara.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he approves of Ohtani’s decision to address the allegations.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Roberts said Sunday. “I’m happy he’s going to speak and speak to what he knows and give his thoughts on the whole situation. I think it’ll give us all a little bit more clarity.”
When news first broke of the wire transfers, Ohtani’s lawyers said the Dodgers slugger had paid Mizuhara’s gambling debts but then accused him of making those transfers without Ohtani’s knowledge.
The IRS announced on Thursday that its Los Angeles field office is looking into allegations of unlawful bookmaking involving Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer.
Since Ohtani’s 2017 Los Angeles Angels debut, Mizuhara has been the two-way superstar’s interpreter.
Ohtani, who earned his second AL MVP award in 2023, batted.304 with an American League-high 44 home runs and 95 RBIs. In December, he inked a record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.
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