Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Shohei Ohtani will speak to the media on Monday for the first time since the team fired his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
Mizuhara has been accused of using $4.5million of Ohtani’s money to pay off gambling debts.
After initially claiming that Ohtani gave him the money to help his situation, representatives for the baseball star have described the events as a ‘massive theft’.
The latest developments in this story find that Mizuhara lied about attending the University of California at Riverside – and also made up that he worked with former Boston Red Sox player Hideki Okajima.
The Red Sox even went so far as to send out a release to media members, stating, ‘Mizuhara was never employed by the Boston Red Sox in any capacity and was not an interpreter for Hideki Okajima during the pitcher’s time with the team. Please know that we have thoroughly checked our files to ensure we are providing accurate information.’
Dodgers star outfielder Shohei Ohtani has confirmed he will speak to the media on Monday
It’s the first time Ohtani will speak to the press after the firing of translator Ippei Mizuhara
Photographs taken of Okajima during his five-year tenure with the Red Sox show other individuals – and not Mizuhara – serving as the relief pitcher’s interpreter.
Employment histories contained in team media guides are not typically vetted, according to The Athletic. Instead, teams trust employees not to deceive the press about their past positions.
Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday amid questions surrounding at least $4.5 million in suspicious wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank to an illegal California gambling operation that ESPN reports is under federal investigation. Unlike many states, California has not yet legalized sports gambling.
At the time, the Dodgers were playing against the San Diego Padres in South Korea in the opening series of the season for Major League Baseball.
Spokespeople for Ohtani initially told ESPN that the 29-year-old was helping Mizuhara to cover massive gambling debts. But later – after the interpreter spoke to ESPN about the allegations – Ohtani’s representatives disavowed his comments and offered a statement from the Dodgers star’s attorneys:
‘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 Ohtani’s law firm, Berk Brettler LLP.
Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizzuhara are seen leaving a press conference in Seoul last week
Ohtani’s lawyers did not outright accuse Mizuhara of stealing from the slugger, but the Los Angeles Times reports that the interpreter is accused of grifting millinos from the star.
‘At first, it was a friend with a gambling problem and Ohtani bailed him out, which is very believable to help a friend, as had been positioned to public,’ Craig Carton told The New York Post.
‘When they went back on that and said the money was stolen, they opened up Pandora’s box and now they have to really trust this interpreter.’
Moreover, representatives for Ohtani have denied the Dodgers star is involved in any illegal gambling – insisting he had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s gambling problem.
According to the Associated Press, the IRS is investigating Mizuhara. Major League Baseball announced their own investigation on Friday.