$17,000,000 restitution for Shohei Ohtani included in $18,100,000 wire fraud claim against Dodgers star's ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara: Reports

Federal prosecutors have demanded Ippei Mizuhara, former close friend and translator of Shohei Ohtani, pay $17 million in restitution to the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar owing to the charges of wire fraud laid against him. Mizuhara has also been asked to pay a further $1.1 million to the IRS for filing a false tax return, while they noted that he will not be able to repay the sum to Ohtani.

As per The Athletic, on Thursday the prosecution disclosed a four-minute audio recording of a telephone conversation between Ippei Mizuhara and a bank employee in which he attempted to pass through a $200,000 wire transfer while posing as Shohei Ohtani. Mizuhara was able to bypass security measures by diverting Ohtani's online account information to his own email and phone number.

The prosecutors have also suggested a prison sentence of nearly five years for Ippei Mizuhara after he accepted the charges of bank fraud and filing a false tax return after embezzling around $17 million from his employer, Shohei Ohtani. The U.S. Attorney's office expects the defendant to argue that his behavior was due to an addiction to gambling.

"Even if the defendant is addicted to gambling, it cannot fully explain the defendant's conduct because the defendant used the stolen funds for numerous personal expenses that had nothing to do with gambling," assistant U.S. attorney Jeff Mitchell wrote in a court filing on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

"Ultimately, the government submits that the motivating factor behind the defendant's crimes was not a gambling addiction but rather greed."

At the very least, the recording gave an example of the extraordinarily close bond that the interpreter had shared with the player, becoming a conduit and confidant for the superstar's professional life and personal life. The prosecutors believe Mizuhara gained enough trust to have the means to alter account information and make bank transactions outside the knowledge of Ohtani.

I truly admire Shohei Ohtani as a baseball player and a human being: Ippei Mizuhara

Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara were almost inserarable off the field during their time together (Image Source: Imagn)

The prosecution believes that Ippei Mizuhara placed about 19,000 online bets through bookie Matthew Bowyer using funds from the bank accounts of Shohei Ohtani between December 2021 and January 2024. Mizuhara had reportedly racked up a $40.7 million debt as a result.

"His years-long theft of funds from Mr. Ohtani and the myriad lies he told to Mr. Ohtani's agents and financial advisors to cover up his theft represent a calculated betrayal of the very person he was hired to help," U.S. attorney Jeff Mitchell wrote in the court filing.

As part of a plea agreement in May 2024, as well as on Thursday, the prosecution suggested the possibility of Mizuhara being deported to Japan, his country of birth. His lawyer, Michael Freeman, believes it to be "virtually certain" and says his client will continue to face "great scrutiny and shame."

"I truly admire Shohei as a baseball player and a human being, and I was committed to devoting my life so Shohei can be the best version of himself on the field," Mizuhara said as per the court filing. "I want to say I am truly sorry for violating the trust in me."

Mizuhara is scheduled to be sentenced on February 6.