Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara's name came up in a federal investigation against Orange County resident Matthew Boyer.
Berk Brettler LLP, which represents Ohtani's interests, issued the following statement:
“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,” Berk Brettler LLP said in a statement. [via the Athletic].
Ohtani's attorney mentioned the player being victim of a massive theft but also said that they turned the matter over to the authorities. However, when ESPN reached out on Tuesday to know which authorities they had handed the matter to, Ohtani's representatives declined to answer.
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According to ESPN, there has been no confirmation from local, state or federal agencies that have received reports of theft allegations from Ohtani's attorneys. However, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that it's collaborating with the IRS in an ongoing investigation against Mizuhara, but the department didn't mention if Ohtani's attorneys have contacted them.
"Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles and IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office are conducting a joint federal investigation into the matter," a spokesperson told ESPN.
Shohei Ohtani put a stop to rumors in Monday's press conference
In Monday's press conference, Shohei Ohtani clarified a lot of things since a contrasting statement came from Ippei Mizuhara, where he first mentioned Ohtani paying off his debts but changed his stance, saying the Dodgers star didn't know about his gambling activity.
Ohtani said that he was shocked when he first learned about the situation.
“[I am] beyond shocked, it’s hard to verbalise how I am feeling at this point,” he said.
“All of this has been a complete lie,” Ohtani said. “Ippei obviously basically didn’t tell me about the media inquiry. So Ippei has been telling everyone around that he has been communicating with me on this account to the media and my team, and that hasn’t been true.”
He also claimed that Mizuhara has been stealing money from his account and has been lying to him.
“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Shohei Ohtani said.
That provides some clarity to the situation, but a lot still needs to be looked into.
