MAJOR LEAGUE MONEY

Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Accused of ‘Massive Theft’ to Fuel Sports Bets

Lawyers for the highest paid player in MLB history said Ippei Mizuhara had swindled the star out of a sizable sum.

Lawyers for Shohei Ohtani accused his interpreter of stealing major league bucks from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to fuel a sports gambling obsession, according to the Los Angeles Times. “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,” Ohtani’s attorneys told the newspaper. A source close to the matter also said Ohtani’s representatives originally began looking into interpreter Ippei Mizuhara after the Times asked why the Dodgers star’s name surfaced as part of a federal investigation into alleged Southern California bookmaker Mathew Bowyer. Anonymous sources told the Times that Mizuhara allegedly placed illegal bets with Bowyer. Before Ohtani’s lawyers released their statement, the player told ESPN he’d wired money to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debts, and the outlet reviewed a pair of $500,000 payments in Ohtani’s name which were sent last September and October. ESPN then interviewed Mizuhara, but was later told by Ohtani’s lawyers to disregard the interpreter’s story. On Wednesday, a team spokesman said that Mizuhara had been fired.