Illegal bookie of Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter Ippei Mizhuhara raises suspicions about Dodgers' $700,000,000 superstar

Mathew Bowyer, the illegal bookmaker charged in the gambling scandal concerning Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, maintains that he doesn't know whether the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar had placed the wagers. Bowyer believes Ohtani doesn't gamble but feels Ohtani must have had some knowledge regarding Mizuhara's betting habits.

Major League Baseball and Japan were rocked by the scandal at the start of the 2024 season after Shohei Ohtani had signed a $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Reports emerged that Ippei Mizuhara was siphoning funds from the bank account of the two-way superstar to place around 19,000 bets with California-based bookie Mathew Bowyer for two and a half years.

The federal government and MLB swiftly declared that Shohei Ohtani was a victim of bank fraud and had no knowledge about his interpreter placing bets with Bowyer from his bank account. Ippei Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in prison earlier this year for bank and tax fraud besides stealing $17 million from his former employer and close friend.

Mathew Bowyer was scheduled to receive his sentence on April 4, his 50th birthday, but it has been postponed until Oct. 3. He spoke to USA Today Sports after the latest hearing.

"I know the whole world wants to know, but to this day, I truly don’t know," Bowyer said. "They are the only two people in the world who really know the truth, Shohei and Ippei. "I truly believe that Shohei doesn’t gamble, but I think he knew some area of demise with Ippei, just maybe not to that extent.

"If this is true that Ippei was the guy, and gambling all by himself the whole time, I don’t know how you could hide that from your best friend, someone you were with almost 24 hours a day? They were inseparable," he added. "And if you really could hide that from his best friend for so long, then how could Shohei Ohtani not see $17 million gone from his account?"

According to the official investigation, Mizuhara had gambled more than $300 million between September 2021 and January 2024, betting up to $100,000 on a single occasion.

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"It’s definitely possible Shohei Ohtani didn’t know anything": Mathew Boyd

Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season (Image Source: IMAGN)

In an interview with USA Today Sports, Mathew Bowyer said that he had never asked Ippei Mizuhara if he was placing wagers on behalf of Shohei Ohtani.

Bowyer revealed that he had first come in contact with Mizuhara at a private poker game when Ohtani had come on a road trip to play the San Diego Padres while he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

"I never had a discission with Ippei directly on who’s making the bets," Bowyer said. “People ask me all of the time, 'Why wouldn’t you?'. "I say, 'Why would I?'. It’s not my business to pry into their business. How are they getting the money? Who’s betting for who? There comes a point where you don’t want the answer, and I was afraid of the truth.

“It’s definitely possible Ohtani didn’t know anything, but plausible is a different answer," Bowyer said. “I gambled bigger than most. I hid my emotions better than most. But you can only hide so much when you’re in serious turmoil. And clearly, he was in serious turmoil."

In August 2024, Bowyer pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and false tax returns and faces up to 18 years in prison. However, he expects his sentence to be reduced to 17 to 37 months for cooperating with the investigation.