Ippei Mizuhara’s Bookie Says It Was ‘Very Obvious’ He Was Stealing Money From Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series largely due to their preseason addition of generational talent Shohei Ohtani.
A few months after Ohtani put pen to paper on a 10-year, $700 million deal that brought him to the Dodgers, a report came out that his interpreter at the time, Ippei Mizuhara, stole more than $16 million from the MVP.
The United States Department of Justices investigated Mizuhara and alleged he transferred that number over time from Ohtani’s account to an illegal sports book.
As Mizuhara awaits a Feb. 6 sentencing in federal court, his bookmaker spoke for the first time to the New York Post and only further proved the ex-interpreter’s wrongdoing. The bookie, Mathew Bowyer, faces a sentence of his own for taking illegal bets, money laundering, and filing a false tax return.
“It was very obvious he was stealing money and not asking Ohtani for permission,” Bowyer told The Post, adding, “I truly believe he had a massive gambling addiction problem.”
Bowyer even tried to help out with Mizuhara’s addiction.
“I asked him if he was OK,” Bowyer said. “He said, ‘I’m just terrible at this.’ I would try to control him a little bit. …
“He never acted as if the dollar amounts impacted him for one second. He was so polite and so respectful.”
One could argue that the amounts never impacted him like most people since the amount did not even belong to him, as it belonged to the future three-time MVP.
Mizuhara allegedly pretended to be Ohtani as he tried to wire himself $200,000 of stolen money in calls with the bank.
Assistant U.S. attorney Jeff Mitchell wrote in a court filing that although the gambling addiction was obvious, there were other factors at play.
“Even if defendant is addicted to gambling, it cannot fully explain defendant’s conduct because defendant used the stolen funds for numerous personal expenses that had nothing to do with gambling,” Mitchell wrote. “Ultimately, the government submits, the motivating factor behind defendant’s crimes was not a gambling addiction but rather greed.”
Somehow, none of this seemed to get in Ohtani’s way as he earned a National League MVP award, a World Series championship, and became the first player in MLB history to hit more than 50 home runs and steal more than 50 bases.
Federal prosecutors are requesting a 57-month prison sentence and for Mizuhara to repay Ohtani the $16.9 million he stole from him.
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