Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter and de facto manager, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return after using unauthorized access to Ohtani’s bank account to pay gambling debts. On February 6, 2025, a federal judge sentenced him to 57 months in prison and ordered him to pay $16,975,010 in restitution to Ohtani and $1,149,400 to the IRS. The U.S. Department of Justice described Ohtani as the victim of the transfers; the case did not establish that Ohtani placed or funded the bets.
What happened between Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter?
Federal prosecutors said Mizuhara used his position of trust and access to Ohtani’s financial affairs to steal money to cover gambling debts. The case was not simply about an interpreter betting on sports: Mizuhara admitted to bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return, and the court later ordered prison time and restitution.
The DOJ said Mizuhara began betting with an illegal bookmaker in September 2021. After accumulating debt, he accessed Ohtani’s account without permission, altered its verification details, and posed as Ohtani in calls to the bank to authorize transfers. The account had been opened in 2018, when Mizuhara accompanied Ohtani to a Phoenix bank and interpreted.
How did Mizuhara access Ohtani’s bank account?
According to the DOJ’s May 2024 plea announcement, Mizuhara used Ohtani’s password and changed the account’s registered email address and phone number so verification calls would reach him. Prosecutors said he impersonated Ohtani in approximately 24 calls to the bank. Ohtani did not know about or authorize the access and transfers, according to the DOJ.
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The DOJ described Mizuhara as Ohtani’s interpreter and de facto manager, with a role that brought him into contact with Ohtani’s agents and financial advisers. The language barrier between Ohtani and some of those professionals formed part of the context for that access; it does not make the transfers authorized.
How much money did Mizuhara take—and what do the betting figures mean?
The DOJ’s February 2025 sentencing release says the restitution ordered to Ohtani was $16,975,010. It also ordered $1,149,400 in restitution to the IRS for the false tax return involving unreported income from the scheme. These are the restitution amounts in the sentence, not a statement that all money has since been paid.
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The bookmaker’s case reported far larger numbers, but they measure different things. DOJ said Mizuhara placed at least 19,000 bets through Mathew Bowyer’s operation between September 2021 and January 2024. Its reported totals were $142,256,769 in winning bets and $182,935,206 in losing bets, with approximately $40,678,436 owed to the bookmaker. Gross winning and losing wagers are not sums stolen from Ohtani, and the reported amount owed to the bookmaker is not the same as the restitution ordered to Ohtani.
The sentencing release also describes approximately $325,000 spent on baseball cards using Ohtani’s account and about $60,000 in dental expenses. DOJ said Mizuhara used Ohtani’s debit card for the dental payment and deposited into his own account a separate check intended to cover the work. Those purchases were additional details of the financial misconduct, distinct from the much larger gambling-related transfers.
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What happened to the bookmaker?
Mathew Bowyer ran an unlicensed gambling operation with agents and betting websites, according to the DOJ. Mizuhara was a client of that operation. On August 1, 2024, prosecutors announced that Bowyer had agreed to plead guilty to charges involving operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering, and subscribing to a false tax return. The DOJ said the operation had more than 700 bettors at times.
Bowyer’s prosecution was separate from Mizuhara’s. The bookmaker’s business and the betting totals help explain the setting and scale of the gambling activity, but they do not change what Mizuhara pleaded guilty to or the restitution amounts in his sentence.
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Timeline of the case
- March 2018: DOJ says Mizuhara accompanied Ohtani to a Phoenix bank to help open an account for Ohtani’s MLB salary.
- September 2021: DOJ says Mizuhara began placing sports bets through an illegal bookmaker and accumulated debts.
- November 2021–March 2024: DOJ says Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s account, changed verification details, and deceived bank employees to authorize transfers.
- January–March 2024: DOJ says Mizuhara used Ohtani’s account to buy approximately $325,000 in baseball cards for personal benefit and intended resale.
- May 8, 2024: DOJ announced Mizuhara had agreed to plead guilty to bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return.
- June 2024: Mizuhara pleaded guilty. ESPN reported MLB’s conclusion that Ohtani was a victim of fraud and that the league had closed its matter.
- August 1, 2024: DOJ announced Bowyer had agreed to plead guilty to charges related to his illegal gambling operation, money laundering, and a false tax return.
- February 6, 2025: Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution to Ohtani and the IRS.
Did Shohei Ohtani gamble? Was he cleared?
The DOJ described Ohtani as the victim of unauthorized transfers, not as a participant in Mizuhara’s betting. MLB’s conclusion, reported by ESPN on June 4, 2024, was: “Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud and this matter has been closed.” That is MLB’s reported conclusion, not a quotation from the DOJ.
Mizuhara’s guilty plea resolved the core criminal case against him. His sentencing followed in February 2025. The available DOJ and ESPN sources establish those case outcomes, but do not establish later appeals, present custody status, or whether the restitution orders have been paid in full.
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