Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara's gambling addict defense shattered in $17M bank fraud case: Report

Ippei Mizuhara was just dealt a major blow in his defense in the Shohei Ohtani $17 million bank fraud case. The longtime translator was accused of stealing millions from Ohtani to pay for various things, including gambling debts. According to ESPN, Mizuhara bet with Ohtani's money frequently, though never on baseball.

One key piece of his defense was his alleged gambling addiction, but the federal prosecutors dismantled that argument. They say there was no evidence of a gambling addiction before the stealing began and it therefore cannot be used as a plausible defense.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers translator indicated remorse and said per ESPN that he had a "long-standing" addiction to betting and "frequented casinos four to five times a week."

Prosecutors responded to this claim:

"All defendants claim to be remorseful at the time of sentencing. The question courts must answer is whether the defendant is truly remorseful or whether they are just sorry they were caught."

Mizuhara is set to be sentenced on February 6 after pleading guilty in June. Last week, he asked for an 18-month sentence, not the five-year penalty the prosecution is looking for.

The government's investigation reportedly uncovered that "the only evidence found was the defendant spending $200 at the Mirage casino during a weekend in 2008."

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Prosecutors dismantle arguments by Shohei Ohtani's former translator

Prosecutors have been hard at work taking apart Ippei Mizuhara's arguments. He claimed that he gambled up a large debt when he began stealing from Shohei Ohtani to pay it back, but prosecutors said there was no evidence of a "tremendous debt" that would've forced Mizuhara to steal.

Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara (Imagn)

The first fraudulent transfer was "a modest $40,000" in September 2021. The investigation stated that Mizuhara had more than $34,000 in his checking account, so the need to steal was not relevant.

The prosecution argued:

"[Mizuhara] could have used his own money to pay the bookie but instead chose to steal from Mr. Ohtani."

They also allege that the translator "had no intention of repaying Mr. Ohtani" in the official court filing. Mizuhara's lawyers didn't respond when approached for comment by ESPN.

Ohtani and the Dodgers uncovered this fraud early on in the MLB season, firing Mizuhara immediately. There was controversy over whether or not Ohtani was the one illegally gambling and that Mizuhara was just taking the fall, but thorough investigations found no evidence for any of that.