Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Accused of ‘Massive Theft’ of Former Angels Star’s Funds

He was with the Angels from 2017-23 with Ohtani.

Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter for former Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, has reportedly been fired from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mizuhara was the interpreter for Ohtani while he was with the Angels from 2017-13, and  followed him to Los Angeles. Now, Mizuhara is a free agent after being let go amid serious allegations.

Mizuhara was accused of engaging in a "massive theft" of Ohtani's money to place bets with an allegedly illegal sports gambling operation. The Los Angeles Times reported the news.

According to The Times, Ohtani's name appeared in an investigation regarding illegal gambling, which sparked his attorneys to investigate. The West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler released this statement:

“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.”

The Times reported that Ohtani had no contact with the bookmaker.

Ohtani and Mizuhara have known each other since 2013. They first met while Mizuhara was working as an English interpreter while Ohtani played on the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan. 

Mizuhara then followed Ohtani to Major League Baseball in 2017, when he signed with the Angels. He also followed him this offseason when he signed with the Dodgers.

Mizuhara and Ohtani are in Korea, where the Dodgers opened the regular season with two games against the San Diego Padres.

Interpreters are typically written into the contract between a Japanese-speaking player and his team. Mizuhara, then, was employed directly by the Angels (and briefly the Dodgers) rather than Ohtani himself.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ippei Mizuhara 水原一平 (@ippei1231)