In the biggest news of the new MLB season Shohei Ohtani’s translator has been fired for gambling and theft.
Ippei Mizuhara has been accused of massive theft from the account of Ohtani to the tune of $4.5 million after he ran up debts to a well-known California bookmaker.
Baseball’s biggest star was told by his attorneys not to comment himself but rather talk to the media through them.
“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,” read the statement from Berk Brettler LLP on Wednesday.
The story gets interesting when Mizuhara initially stated on Tuesday that Ohtani had helped him cover the debts.
ESPN has reportedly seen two documents showing $500,000 payments to an associate of Mathew Bowyer, whose bookmaking operation is under investigation by federal investigators. These documents bear the name of Ohtani.
Diane Bass, attorney to Bower told ESPN: “Mr Bowyer never met or spoke with Shohei Ohtani.”
