MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been charged with bank fraud, with federal prosecutors alleging Thursday he stole $16 million from Ohtani to finance his “voracious appetite” for illegal sports betting, the latest development in a scandal that has rocked the baseball world.
READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2024/04/11/shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-charged-with-stealing-16-million-from-mlb-superstar-for-gambling-debts/?sh=52829f257788
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READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2024/04/11/shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-charged-with-stealing-16-million-from-mlb-superstar-for-gambling-debts/?sh=52829f257788
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NewsTranscript
00:00 a federal criminal complaint against Ipe Mizuhara,
00:05 a person who until recently was employed as a translator
00:09 for professional baseball player Shohei Otani.
00:14 The federal complaint filed just a few minutes ago
00:17 charges Mizuhara with bank fraud
00:20 for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Mr. Otani.
00:26 According to the complaint,
00:27 Mr. Mizuhara stole this money largely to finance
00:32 his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.
00:37 Our investigation revealed that Mizuhara,
00:40 a Japanese language interpreter,
00:43 began working as a translator for Mr. Otani
00:47 when he first came to the United States
00:49 to begin playing professional baseball.
00:52 Mr. Mizuhara had first met Mr. Otani in 2013,
00:55 so the two knew each other.
00:58 Mr. Otani did not speak or understand English,
01:01 while Mr. Mizuhara knew English
01:04 and was familiar with the United States.
01:07 As such, Mr. Mizuhara not only translated for Mr. Otani,
01:12 but also acted as his de facto manager.
01:16 >> Just a second.
01:18 We have a microphone issue.
01:21 Oh, okay.
01:23 (inaudible)
01:38 >> Our investigation has revealed that Mr. Mizuhara,
01:42 a Japanese language interpreter,
01:44 began working as a translator for Mr. Otani
01:47 when Mr. Otani first came to the United States
01:50 to begin playing professional baseball.
01:53 Mr. Mizuhara had first met Mr. Otani in 2013,
01:56 so the two men knew each other.
01:59 Mr. Otani did not speak or understand English,
02:02 while Mr. Mizuhara knew English
02:04 and was familiar with the United States.
02:07 As a result, Mr. Mizuhara acted
02:10 as Mr. Otani's de facto manager.
02:14 In 2018, shortly after Mr. Otani arrived from Japan,
02:19 Mr. Mizuhara helped Mr. Otani set up a bank account.
02:23 That was a bank account that was used to deposit
02:26 Mr. Otani's salary payments from professional baseball.
02:32 Mr. Mizuhara had access to that bank account,
02:35 and he refused to give access
02:37 to Mr. Otani's other professional advisors,
02:40 including his agent, his accountant,
02:42 and his financial advisor.
02:44 And he told them that Mr. Otani
02:45 wanted to keep that account private.
02:49 In 2021, Mr. Mizuhara began placing sports bets
02:53 with a group of bookmakers
02:55 who were linked to an illegal gambling operation.
03:00 Over time, Mr. Mizuhara's bets became more and more frequent.
03:04 And over time, Mr. Mizuhara's bets
03:07 became larger and larger in amounts.
03:11 Messages between Mr. Mizuhara and the bookmaker
03:13 showed that he lost considerable money on those bets,
03:18 but he continued to make the wagers,
03:20 thousands of wagers over time.
03:24 The bets do not appear to have been made
03:27 on the sport of baseball.
03:30 At the same time he started placing the bets
03:32 with bookmakers, Mr. Mizuhara began using Mr. Otani's account
03:38 to make payments for the bank account.
03:42 Mr. Mizuhara had helped set up the account,
03:44 so he's familiar with it,
03:46 and he used that familiarity to access the account.
03:50 The evidence we've gathered over the past few weeks
03:52 has demonstrated that in total,
03:54 Mr. Mizuhara stole over $16 million
03:58 from Mr. Otani's account
04:01 in order to pay for these illegal sports bets.
04:05 Phone and bank records show that Mr. Mizuhara
04:08 appears to have accessed Mr. Otani's bank account online.
04:13 What is more, Mr. Mizuhara lied to the bank
04:17 to access the account.
04:19 For instance, we've obtained recordings of telephone calls
04:23 in which Mizuhara spoke with bank employees,
04:27 lied to them about being Mr. Otani,
04:30 gave personal biographical information for Mr. Otani
04:34 in order to impersonate him,
04:37 and thereby convinced the bank to approve large wire transfers
04:42 of large amounts of money to the bookmakers.
04:47 I want to emphasize this point.
04:50 Mr. Otani is considered a victim in this case.
04:55 There is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Otani authorized
04:59 the over $16 million of transfers
05:03 from his account to the bookmakers.
05:06 Mr. Otani has stated that he did not authorize these transfers,
05:11 that he did not grant Mizuhara access to his account.
05:15 But on top of that, we've reviewed both Mizuhara's
05:18 and Mr. Otani's phones and their communications over time,
05:23 over several years, thousands of communications
05:26 reviewed by a Japanese linguist.
05:29 And that review has demonstrated no discussion
05:33 of betting, wagers, or authorization
05:36 for transfers to bookmakers.
05:39 Furthermore, there would have been no reason
05:41 for Mr. Mizuhara to impersonate Mr. Otani in calls with the bank
05:46 if these transfers had been authorized.
05:49 Also, when Mr. Mizuhara would occasionally win
05:53 on his sports bets, the winnings were not deposited
05:57 in Mr. Otani's bank account,
05:59 but rather in Mr. Mizuhara's personal bank account.
06:04 Finally, in a text message with one of the bookmakers,
06:07 which is detailed in the complaint
06:09 which is available to you,
06:11 Mr. Mizuhara admitted to the bookmaker
06:14 to stealing from Mr. Otani.
06:16 Let me summarize.
06:21 Our investigation has revealed that due to the position
06:25 of trust he occupied with Mr. Otani,
06:28 Mr. Mizuhara had unique access to Mr. Otani's finances.
06:33 Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust
06:38 in order to take advantage of Mr. Otani.
06:42 Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust
06:45 in order to plunder Mr. Otani's bank account
06:49 to the tune of over $16 million.
06:53 And Mr. Mizuhara did all this to feed his insatiable appetite
06:58 for illegal sports betting.
07:00 In this way, we allege in the complaint
07:02 Mr. Mizuhara committed fraud on a massive scale.
07:07 And let me note, what we filed today here is a complaint.
07:10 Mr. Mizuhara is presumed to be innocent,
07:13 but you can see all the allegations that we've made
07:15 in the complaint that's been filed.
07:18 Finally, let me offer some thanks in this case.
07:22 I want to thank the amazing investigative team in this case
07:26 for the work that they did.
07:28 Investigators with IRS Criminal Investigation,
07:32 investigators with Homeland Security Investigations,
07:35 and with our office, United States Attorney's Office
07:37 for the Central District of California,
07:39 worked tirelessly, worked quickly,
07:43 and worked thoroughly to bring this charge
07:46 against Mr. Mizuhara.
07:48 I want to thank in particular the assistant
07:50 United States attorneys in my office who worked on this case.
07:53 That would be AUSA's Jeff Mitchell,
07:56 AUSA Rachel Agres, and AUSA Dan Boyle.
08:00 Let me now, before we take any Q&A,
08:03 introduce to the podium
08:04 IRS Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher.
08:07 >> Good morning. Thanks, Martine.
08:17 As you've heard, my name's Tyler Hatcher.
08:18 I'm the Special Agent in Charge for IRS Criminal Investigation
08:21 here in the Los Angeles Field Office.
08:22 We often get asked, "Why is IRS involved
08:24 in these kind of cases?"
08:25 And IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents
08:28 are the best in the world at following the money.
08:30 And I want to give my comments to shed some light
08:35 on how quickly the federal government,
08:37 and in particular, U.S. Attorney's Office,
08:39 my office, and HSI,
08:41 marshaled our resources to get a resolution to a victim,
08:43 and in this case, Mr. Otani.
08:45 The criminal complaint that was filed today
08:47 definitively shows that that money,
08:50 the $16 million that's in question, was, in fact, stolen.
08:53 And we want to continue IRS Criminal Investigation's efforts
08:58 in protecting sports at the highest levels.
09:02 We have a long history of getting involved in cases,
09:05 dealing with sports at the highest levels,
09:07 and this is just another great example
09:09 of the federal government working together
09:11 for a quick resolution.
09:12 I'll turn that over to Eddie Wang.
09:14 >> Thanks, Tyler. Good morning, everyone.
09:18 My name is Eddie Wang, and I'm the Special Agent
09:20 in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations
09:22 here in Los Angeles.
09:24 HSI is the principal investigative arm
09:26 of the Department of Homeland Security.
09:28 And one of our top priorities
09:30 is targeting illicit financial activities.
09:34 As you just heard earlier today,
09:36 a federal criminal complaint was filed
09:39 alleging that Mr. Ipe Mizuhara
09:43 illegally transferred billions of dollars
09:46 from Mr. Otani's bank account,
09:48 for which he was not authorized to do so.
09:51 These charges stem from the outstanding work
09:53 of our special agents assigned to the HSI-led
09:57 El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force,
10:00 who worked collaboratively with our steadfast partners
10:03 at the IRS Criminal Investigation
10:05 and the U.S. Attorney's Office.
10:08 In particular, I'd like to take a quick second
10:10 to recognize the outstanding work
10:14 done by the prosecutors on this case,
10:16 Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeff Mitchell,
10:20 Dan Boyle, and Rachel Agres.
10:22 Thank you for your work on this matter.
10:25 Look, there is much work to be done
10:28 regarding financial crime
10:29 in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area,
10:32 but the El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force
10:36 is up to the challenge,
10:38 and will continue to diligently target financial crimes
10:44 that are related to this.
10:44 Thank you.
10:46 - I'm gonna try to coordinate Q&A, so show of hands.
10:48 - What started the investigation?
10:57 What led you to look into this and find Mr. Mizuhara?
11:02 - There was an ongoing federal criminal investigation
11:05 into illegal gambling businesses
11:08 operating not just in our district,
11:10 but throughout the country,
11:11 and that investigation ultimately revealed
11:13 that there was bank fraud.
11:14 - As you mentioned, this was pretty fast
11:20 for a federal investigation of this magnitude.
11:22 What led to such a quick resolution here,
11:24 and was the popularity of Shohei Otani
11:27 and his reputation did that factor
11:30 into wanting to get this resolved?
11:32 - We understood there was a significant amount
11:35 of public interest in this case.
11:37 There were a lot of question marks out there
11:39 in terms of what had occurred.
11:41 We wanted to get to those questions.
11:43 I wanna emphasize, though, that while we were able
11:46 to work on this case rapidly,
11:49 it was a very thorough investigation.
11:51 You will see in the complaint,
11:53 review of thousands of communications,
11:55 review of bank records, review of phone records,
11:58 interviews that were done with several individuals
12:01 related to this, so a very thorough investigation was done.
12:04 - If I could ask a quick follow-up.
12:05 You said earlier that you don't believe
12:07 that the Dutch were doing it on baseball.
12:08 How certain are you of that at this moment?
12:11 - Based on the review that we have done,
12:13 and it is, as I mentioned, a very thorough review,
12:17 we do not believe any bets were made on baseball games.
12:19 Yes.
12:22 - Given all the evidence that you just laid out,
12:23 what kind of penalty or punishment
12:25 do you think Mr. Mitsuhara could be facing?
12:27 And does Mr. Otani have any chance
12:28 of ever recouping any of that money that has been lost,
12:31 stolen?
12:33 - Mr. Mitsuhara faces a charge of bank fraud.
12:36 Bank fraud carries a statutory maximum penalty
12:39 of 30 years imprisonment.
12:41 But the ultimate sentence that he would receive,
12:44 if convicted, would be based on a determination by the judge.
12:47 The judge considers all the factors,
12:48 all the background to come up with the appropriate sentence.
12:51 That is for the court to decide.
12:53 We will provide all the facts to make sure
12:55 the court is fully informed in making that decision.
12:58 - Can you talk about the degree to which
13:00 Mr. Otani cooperated with the investigation
13:02 and what that involved?
13:04 - Mr. Otani, as I mentioned, has been established
13:06 as a victim in this case.
13:08 I want to be clear that Mr. Otani has cooperated fully
13:12 and completely in this investigation.
13:15 He's not only spoken to investigators,
13:17 he's provided access to his digital devices,
13:20 to his personal information, to ensure that justice
13:23 was done in this case.
13:24 - And to what degree did Ipe cooperate?
13:27 - Excuse me, I didn't hear your question.
13:28 - To what degree did Ipe cooperate
13:29 in this investigation?
13:30 - Mr. Mitsuhara.
13:32 - Mr. Mitsuhara is charged in this case.
13:34 He's presumed innocent, and I'll leave it at that.
13:37 - What are the next steps?
13:40 Has Mitsuhara already pled guilty?
13:42 Or what will be happening after this?
13:45 - So this is the filing of a criminal complaint.
13:47 Those are allegations that have been made.
13:49 A criminal charge is filed.
13:51 Mr. Mitsuhara will now have to appear
13:54 on that criminal complaint.
13:55 That appearance should happen sometime
13:58 in the next few days.
13:59 Following that, we will prosecute the case,
14:01 wherever it goes.
14:02 Whether Mr. Mitsuhara admits his guilt
14:04 or whether he decides to contest his guilt,
14:06 we will follow it where the law appropriately leads us.
14:09 - So if you're gonna follow up,
14:10 where will he be appearing?
14:12 - He will be appearing in federal district court
14:15 in our district.
14:16 - I'll get you the details tonight.
14:19 Any more?
14:19 - How much--
14:20 - Go right here.
14:21 - Will Mr. Otani continue to be asked
14:24 to take part in the investigation?
14:27 - Mr. Otani has cooperated, as I said,
14:29 completely and fully in this investigation.
14:31 We expect him to continue to cooperate fully
14:35 in this investigation.
14:36 We don't have specifics in terms of requests
14:38 that we would have right now,
14:39 but certainly over time,
14:41 we expect that cooperation to continue.
14:43 - We'll take two more, Steph.
14:44 - Did Mr. Mitsuhara say to the bookmakers
14:48 that he was a representative of Mr. Otani?
14:51 Did he ever reference Mr. Otani
14:53 in his communications with the bookmakers?
14:56 - We don't have those types of facts to give to you.
14:59 What I can say is Mr. Mitsuhara was the lead.
15:03 He was the one placing all the bets.
15:06 He was the one doing all the interaction,
15:08 and these bets were made on his behalf and for himself.
15:12 As I mentioned, he lost over $16 million,
15:16 but occasionally he would win.
15:18 That money did not go to any account owned by Mr. Otani.
15:22 That money would go to an account
15:24 that was personally owned by Mr. Mitsuhara.
15:26 - But did he say, like, when he's placing bets,
15:28 hey, I am, you know, sort of for posting.
15:31 You know, I am a representative of Mr. Otani,
15:34 not placing bets for him,
15:37 but sort of posting his connections with Mr. Otani.
15:39 - I'm not aware of that,
15:40 and you have a detailed complaint.
15:42 You can review it,
15:43 and you'll see some of the communications there.
15:44 - Matt, on the impersonation to the bank,
15:49 was that just on one occasion,
15:50 and can you talk about how you got the recording,
15:53 and was he speaking in English in that or in Japanese?
15:56 Just walk us through how you obtained that,
15:59 and any further details.
16:02 - So, in investigation--
16:04 In investigations of this sort,
16:06 we often obtain records from every relevant party,
16:10 including banks.
16:12 Banks will, at times, have recordings
16:15 of communications related to an account.
16:18 We're able to obtain those recordings in this case.
16:21 There was more than one recording
16:23 where Mr. Mitsuhara impersonates Mr. Otani
16:27 in order to allow a large transfer to take place.
16:30 Many of you, I'm sure, have experience with this
16:32 in your personal lives.
16:33 A transaction takes place.
16:35 The bank may view that as suspicious,
16:37 may reach out.
16:38 In this case, when they reached out,
16:40 they would get Mr. Mitsuhara,
16:41 who would pretend to be Mr. Otani
16:43 to make sure that the money went through.
16:45 - Okay, last one right here.
16:47 I was just gonna ask you,
16:48 do you have any dialogue
16:50 with the human-based parties in this process?
16:52 - The investigators have had dialogue
16:55 with the victim in this case, Mr. Otani,
16:58 and had dialogue with other interested parties,
17:01 and I will leave it at that.
17:02 - So, let alone with the MOB's Department of Investigation?
17:04 - Other question, yes?
17:06 - Has Mr. Mitsuhara been arrested in both
17:08 and is that the lawyer facing charges?
17:10 - So, as I mentioned earlier,
17:12 Mr. Mitsuhara is expected to make his appearance
17:16 in the next coming days,
17:17 and he'll make his appearance in this district.
17:19 - All right, we're wrapping it up.
17:20 Thank you very much.
17:22 Please clear this aisle here
17:23 so our participants can get out.
17:25 The press release, if it hasn't been issued, will be soon.
17:28 I'll be here for a few minutes.
17:30 If you don't get it, come see me.
17:31 We'll take care of it.
17:33 We'll do Spanish language up here following,
17:35 but please clear this aisle
17:36 for the participants to get out.
17:38 Thanks.
17:39 You guys all gonna sit for a minute for Spanish?
17:59 Great, okay.
18:00 Let's...
18:01 (speaking in foreign language)
18:12, okay?
18:13 (speaking in foreign language)
18:41 So, let me pause.
18:42 So, I'd like everyone to please leave
18:44 who needs to leave now
18:45 because I'd like to do the Spanish version.
18:47 I want to make sure we respect
19:01 our Spanish language audience,
19:03 so please, if you need to leave, please leave now.
19:06 Everybody set?
19:09 (speaking in foreign language)
19:13 And let's have it quiet in the back, thanks.
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20:12, okay?
20:13 (speaking in foreign language)
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21:41 All good, thank you very much.