Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani on Monday vehemently denied any involvement in the sports betting scandal surrounding his former interpreter, breaking his silence on the situation and painting a picture of betrayal.
Ippei Mizuhara, 39, was fired last week as Ohtani’s translator after attorneys for the Japanese phenom said he was the victim of a “massive theft.” The IRS is conducting a criminal investigation of Mizuhara and Major League Baseball is conducting its own internal probe.
“I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this,” Ohtani said Monday.
Ohtani, appearing in a Dodgers sweatshirt and cap, expressed disappointment with his former interpreter, blaming for a controversy that includes allegations Mizuhara stole money from him to place bets with a bookie.
More on the Ohtani betting scandal
“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Ohtani said in Japanese with the help of a different interpreter.
He vowed that he did not bet on any sports, did not ask anyone to do it for him and said he “never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.”
Mizuhara met Ohtani when he went to Japan to work as an interpreter for the Hokkaidō Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, Nippon.com reported. Ohtani had joined the team as a rookie in 2013.
When Ohtani, already on the rise as a coveted two-way player who excelled at pitching and hitting, signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017, he brought Mizuhara along with him.
The scandal was first reported Wednesday by The Los Angeles Times and ESPN.
The allegations against Mizuhara centered specifically on wire transfers from Ohtani’s account — totaling at least $4.5 million, made in at least nine payments of $500,000 — to a bookmaking operation in Southern California…
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