Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Shohei Ohtani, will plead guilty to bank fraud and submitting a fake tax return, ESPN reported Wednesday night. It is not yet known when Mizuhara will receive his sentence, but he will enter his guilty plea “in the coming weeks.”
The 39-year-old was found to have stolen nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star, who he had been with since Ohtani’s days with the Los Angeles Angels, in order to pay off gambling debts.
According to the plea agreement obtained by ESPN, Mizuhara will need to pay back all $16,975,010, to Ohtani.
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Mizuara helped with setting up a bank account for Ohtani, which contained his Major League Baseball salary. Mizuhara also lied to the bank in order to access the account. According to ESPN, the former interpreter would identify himself as Ohtani to the bank in order to “trick and deceive” employees to authorize the transactions.
Mizuhara spoke to ESPN in March when he claimed Ohtani agreed to pay off the gambling debts, but later told the outlet that the two-way phenom had nothing to do with it, and had no knowledge of what was going on.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara, and Ohtani addressed the media days later with a prepared statement. The 29-year-old told reporters he was “duped” by his longtime friend, and had no idea about what was going on until a few days before the news broke.
“To summarize: I am beyond shocked,” Ohtani said. “It’s really hard to summarize how I’m feeling right now.”
Mizuhara could face up to 33 years in prison for both crimes, and a fine up to $1.25 million. However, a guilty plea could mean a lesser sentence.
