Ippei Mizuhara agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to a pair of charges in connection with the gambling scandal involving Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Mizuhara, who was Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, was arrested earlier this spring in a massive and complicated scandal that left him facing up to 30 years in prison. Mizuhara allegedly stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani to cover Mizuhara’s illegal gambling losses, which totaled more than $40 million.
Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to two charges — bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return — on Wednesday. The first charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison, and the second could add up to three years.
Mizuhara is expected to enter his guilty plea officially next week.
Mizuhara turned himself in to authorities officially last month after he was accused of stealing millions from Ohtani. He allegedly made 19,000 wagers with an alleged illegal bookie between December 2021 and January 2024, which averages out to about 25 bets per day. In total, Mizuhara ended up losing more than $40.5 million.
Mizuhara was Ohtani’s financial point person since the star moved to the United States in 2018. He reportedly helped him set up a bank account, and then impersonated him and later changed information in order to start funneling money from it. Ohtani’s agent reportedly only talked to him through Mizuhara, too.
Mizuhara reportedly transferred the weekly $500,000 payments into an account of an associate of Matthew Boyer, who is also under federal investigation. That associate then transferred the money into accounts with Resorts World, a Las Vegas casino, and Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California. The scandal is reportedly part of a much larger operation, in which 12 people have already been charged and convicted and multiple casinos have paid fines.
The associate in question, according to ESPN, was Ryan Boyajian, who is a cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” Scott Sibella, who is the former president of Resorts World and MGM Grand, is set to be sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, too, after he pleaded guilty in connection with another sports gambling charge.
Ohtani has denied knowing anything about the scandal ahead of time, too, and said he learned about it when everyone else did. Major League Baseball has released a statement recognizing that authorities see Ohtani as a victim, too. Ohtani is playing with the Dodgers normally this season in the wake of the scandal.
