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LOS ANGELES – Major League Baseball announced Friday that it has opened an investigation following allegations involving Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s performer, who has been at the center of a possible theft and sports betting scandal this week. .
MLB said in a statement that the organization has been “gathering information since we learned of the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara through the media.”
The MLB Investigations Department began a “formal investigation process into the matter” on Friday, he said. He did not provide further information about what he is investigating.
Representatives for Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about MLB’s investigation. An email to Mizuhara did not receive an immediate response.
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Mizuhara was fired from his position with the Dodgers after Berk Brettler LLP, Ohtani’s attorneys, said the athlete was the victim of a “massive theft” in a case involving sports betting.
“The Dodgers are aware of media reports and are gathering information. The team can confirm that performer Ippei Mizuhara has been fired. The team has no further comment at this time,” read a team statement released Thursday morning.
The scandal was first reported on Wednesday by Los Angeles Times and ESPN. According to ESPN, the interpreter’s dismissal occurred after questions from the media about his alleged links to illegal gambling.
The allegations against Mizuhara focused specifically on wire transfers from Ohtani’s account (totaling at least $4.5 million, made in at least nine payments of $500,000) to a gambling operation in Southern California that is currently under federal investigation and was allegedly led by Matthew Bowyer of Orange County, California, a person familiar with Ohtani and Mizuhara’s interactions told NBC News.
Those wire transfers were sent from Ohtani’s account to a Bowyer associate, the person said.
At first, the person said Mizuhara told Ohtani’s personal team that he had been gambling and racked up a lot of debt, prompting him to ask Ohtani to bail him out.
Mizuhara reportedly said at the time that Ohtani was upset and angry with him because the two-way star hates gambling, but that he eventually agreed to pay the debts as long as Mizuhara never gambled again, according to the person familiar.
On Wednesday, after the Dodgers faced the San Diego Padres in the season opener in Seoul, the person said Mizuhara told the team to wait for media reports on their play.
The source said Ohtani understood enough of Mizuhara’s announcement to know he was referring to something about the game and pressed his interpreter for more information.
As media inquiries came in, Mizuhara changed his story, the person said, and admitted to Ohtani’s agent and representatives that the original story was a lie.
Instead, Mizuhara said Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling or debts. Mizuhara allegedly stole the enormous sum from Ohtani, according to the source, authorizing wire transfers from Ohtani’s account to the associate in the betting operation over a period of time last year without Ohtani’s involvement or knowledge.
The authorities have been officially informed, the source said, without specifying further.
At least four law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Anaheim Police Department and Newport Beach Police Department, told NBC News they do not have any records or information about filing a police report or a crime. Ohtani report in places linked to where he lives, plays or has a registered business.
NBC News reached out to Mizuhara for comment on the allegations.
The couple first met in Japan in 2013, when Mizuhara was serving as an interpreter for the Hokkaidō Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. Ohtani joined the team as a rookie in 2013. Nippon.com reported.
When Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017, he brought in Mizuhara as his personal interpreter.
Mizuhara became more than an interpreter for Ohtani over the years, according to the person familiar with their interactions. She was considered an old friend of Ohtani and served as the baseball star’s guardian.
The Dodgers will play preseason games on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday against Ohtani’s former team, the Angels. They will face the St. Louis Cardinals in their next regular season game on March 28.
Diana Dasrath reported from Los Angeles and Rebecca Cohen from New York City.