Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani broke his silence Monday afternoon for the first time since his friend and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired as part of a gambling probe.
Ohtani’s lawyers say their client was victim of a ‘massive theft’ by Mizuhara after $4.5million in wire transfers were taken out of the Japanese slugger’s account to pay off alleged gambling debts.
The star said that he was ‘very saddened and shocked’ that Mizuhara did this, adding (through an interpreter), ‘I never bet on baseball or any other sports and never asked someone to do it on my behalf and never went through a bookmaker.’
‘In conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,’ Ohtani said.
He began his statement, saying, ‘I wanted to be here today to be able to talk. It’s been a tough week for fans and team officials, and I’m very grateful that the media has been patient in this process.
Shohei Ohtani says that translator Ippei Mizuhara stole money from his account and lied
‘Just on a personal note, I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I’ve trusted has done this.
‘Obviously, today, there’s things that I’m limited in being able to talk about. I hope you understand. I do have a document in front of me that I will refer to that will detail what has happened.
‘I never bet on baseball or any other sports, or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf, and I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.
‘Up until a couple of days ago, I didn’t even know that this was happening. Just to go over the result, in conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.
‘Last weekend in Korea, media had reached out to a representative in my camp inquiring about my potential involvement in this sports betting.
‘Ippei never revealed to me that there was this media inquiry. Ippei told to the media and to my representatives that I, on behalf of a friend, paid off debt. Upon further questioning, it was revealed that it was actually, in fact, Ippei who was in debt and [he] told my representatives that I was paying off those debts.
‘All of this has been a complete lie. So Ippei obviously lied… and basically didn’t tell me about the media inquiry. Ippei has been telling everybody that [he] has been communicating with [Shohei] on all of these accounts to my representatives, to the team, and that hasn’t been true.
‘The first time I knew about this gambling, Ippei’s gambling, was after the first game when we had the team meeting in the clubhouse. During the meeting, obviously, Ippei was speaking in English and I didn’t have a translator on my side. But even with that, I kinda understood what was going on and started to feel that there was something amiss.
Ohtani delivered a statement through new translator and longtime Dodgers staffer Will Ireton
‘Prior to the meeting, I was told by Ippei, “Hey, let’s talk one-to-one in the hotel after the meeting.” So I waited until then. Up until that meeting I didn’t know that Ippei had a gambling addiction and was in debt. Obviously, at that point, I had never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker.
‘And finally, when we went back to the hotel and talked one-to-one, that was when I found out that he had a massive debt and it was revealed to me during that meeting that Ippei admitted that he was sending money using my account to the bookmaker.
‘At that moment, obviously it was an absurd thing that was happening and I contacted my representatives at that point.
‘So when I was finally able to talk to my representatives, that’s when [they] found out that Ippei has been lying the whole time. That’s when I started contacting the Dodgers and my lawyers. The Dodgers and my lawyers, at that moment, found out as well they’d been lied to. My lawyers recommended that since this is theft and fraud that we have the proper authorities handle this matter.
‘So, in conclusion I do want to make it clear that I never bet on sports or have willfully sent money to the bookmaker.
‘To summarize how I’m feeling right now, I’m just beyond shocked. It’s really hard to verbalize how I am feeling at this point.
Ohtani says that Mizuhara (L) stole money from his accounts and lied to him and others
‘The season is going to start. I’m going to obviously let my lawyers handle matters from here on out, and I am completely assisting in all investigations that are taking place right now.
‘I’m looking forward to focusing on the season. I’m glad that we have this opportunity to talk, and I’m sure there’ll be continuing investigations moving forward.’
Ohtani did not take any questions from the media after making his statement and left the room.
The IRS and Major League Baseball have opened up separate investigations into Mizuhara.