Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter fired by Dodgers after allegations of ‘massive theft,’ illegal gambling

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter and close friend has been fired by the Dodgers following allegations of illegal gambling and theft from the Japanese baseball star.

Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was let go from the team on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker. The team is in South Korea this week and Ohtani made his Dodgers debut on Wednesday morning (Pacific Time). Mizuhara was in the dugout and then translated after the game.

“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,” law firm Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mizuhara, who lives in  the Los Angeles County city of Diamond Bar, has worked with Ohtani for years and has been a constant presence with him in major league clubhouses. When Ohtani left the Angels to sign a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December, the club also hired Mizuhara.

Mizuhara’s firing was first confirmed by Major League Baseball.

“The Dodgers are aware of media reports and are gathering information,” the team said in a statement. “The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated. The team has no further comment at this time.”

On Tuesday, Mizuhara told ESPN that his bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering – even legally – on baseball and also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

“I never bet on baseball,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “That’s 100%. I knew that rule. … We have a meeting about that in spring training.”

Reporters from The Associated Press and the Southern California News Group could not reach Mizuhara for comment Wednesday.

Mizuhara has been more than an interpreter to Ohtani. He has been an inseparable close friend and a fixture in the dugout. He often caught the star’s bullpen sessions when Ohtani was with the Angels.

Early in Ohtani’s tenure with the Angels, Mizuhara drove Ohtani to and from the stadium. That is, until the star got his driver’s license after his second season in Anaheim.

He earlier served as interpreter for Boston Red Sox pitcher Hideki Okajima. He also worked in his native Japan, translating for English-speaking players on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball club.

According to ESPN, Mizuhara was linked to at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from Ohtani’s bank account to a bookmaking operation.

In a report on Wednesday, ESPN said a spokesman for Ohtani initially said the money was sent by Ohtani to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debt. The spokesman presented Mizuhara to ESPN for a 90-minute interview on Tuesday night, during which Mizuhara said Ohtani was trying to help him. That account was later disavowed by the spokesman and a statement was released by a law firm that Ohtani was the victim of theft.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Ohtani’s name came up in a federal investigation into an Orange County man suspected of running an illegal bookmaking operation. Wire-transfer payments were sent from Ohtani’s account to an associate of alleged bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, according to ESPN.

The U.S. Department of Justice had no comment Wednesday on the Bowyer investigation.

ESPN reported that Mizuhara, in the Tuesday interview, said he asked Ohtani last year to pay off his gambling debt, which sources said had ballooned to at least $4.5 million. Mizuhara said he previously had placed bets on DraftKings and assumed bets placed through Bowyer were legal.

“Obviously, he [Ohtani] wasn’t happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “He decided to pay it off for me.”

But on Wednesday, Mizuhara reversed himself, telling ESPN that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling debts and that Ohtani had not transferred money to the bookmaker’s associate.

Staff writer Tony Saavedra and Associated Press reporters Stefanie Dazio, Ronald Blum and Beth Harris contributed to this report.