In a twist that sounds like it could be pulled straight from the plot of a sports drama, Ippei Mizuhara—interpreter and day-to-day manager for Major League Baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani—is now at the center of a federal banking fraud investigation. The allegations? That he siphoned off a staggering $16 million from Ohtani, funneling it into his vexing habits and extravagant purchases, including a rather extensive baseball card collection.
The curtain was pulled back on this off-field drama through a 37-page complaint, meticulously penned by federal prosecutors. Within these pages lies the claim that Mizuhara misused his close standing with Ohtani to withdraw millions, supposedly to satiate colossal gambling debts and to acquire around 1,000 baseball cards. His method—purchasing these cards online from popular platforms like eBay and Whatnot—was shadowed under the all too discreet pseudonym, “Jay Min.”
Trading on average for $325 each from January of this year till the last month, these cards weren’t just your run-of-the-mill convenience store finds. Delivered often to addresses linked to the Dodgers, seeing as Mizuhara had them collected there by an unwitting clubhouse employee, these packages contained cards of famed players like Juan Soto and Yogi Berra, and even of Ohtani himself. These were no impulse buys; safeguarded in protective cases, they were clearly meant for a collector’s trove, with plans likely to sell them on in the flush of time.
Tucked away in the trunk of Mizuhara’s vehicle, more of these collector items were discovered, further thickening the plot. But beyond the cards, what paints a more reckless picture is Mizuhara’s steep plunge into gambling. The paperwork reveals about 19,000 bets placed by Mizuhara, cumulating in a net loss of a jaw-dropping $40.7 million during a period spanning late 2021 to early this year, thankfully steering clear of any Major League Baseball games.
The saga began when Ohtani, fresh on U.S. soil and unfamiliar with English, trusted Mizuhara to help him navigate setting up a bank account in 2018. Despite this trust, it appears Ohtani never extended control of his financial dealings to Mizuhara, a fact overlooked as Mizuhara allegedly crafted a web of deceit, positioning himself in unauthorized control over Ohtani’s finances.
As Mizuhara now faces the music with his scheduled court appearance in downtown Los Angeles looming, the scandal has unfurled under the watchful eye of the U.S. Attorney, Martin Estrada, who didn’t mince words condemning the grand scale of the alleged fraud. By supposedly posing as Ohtani to authorize wire transfers, Mizuhara braided his web deeper, linking transactions to associates tied to his gambling.
With Ohtani himself shocked and cooperating with law enforcement, denying any speck of knowledge or consent to these dubious transactions, the scene is set for a legal showdown. What unfolds next in this drama will not only reveal the depths of one man’s betrayal but also, perhaps, caution the sports world about the vulnerabilities athletes face off the field. As this case cracks open, it presents a stark reminder of the profound trust and, at times, the profound treachery found in the intersections of sports and money.
