A nearly four-minute audio tape is said to show Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, pretending to be the baseball player during a call with a bank. During the call, he tried to transfer $200,000 for what he called a car loan, according to federal prosecutors.
A recording mentioned in a court document and received by The Associated Press is being used by prosecutors to support their request for a nearly five-year prison sentence for Mizuhara. Mizuhara has already admitted to bank and tax fraud for stealing almost $17 million from a star of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Prosecutors want to make the person pay back almost $17 million to Ohtani and also pay over $1 million in fines to the IRS.
Mizuhara will be sentenced on February 6 after admitting to one charge of bank fraud and one charge of filing a false tax report.
His lawyer, Michael G. Freedman, did not reply to an email from The Associated Press asking for a comment.
In the video, a man says his name is Ohtani and that he attempted to access online banking, but it was not working. He later reveals that the transaction is for $200,000.
When the bank woman asks him why he is making the deal, he replies that it is for a car loan.
” How are you connected to the person receiving the payment?” she asks.
“He’s my friend,” the man says.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Mitchell said the recording was taken from the bank. It’s not clear when it was made.
Towards the end of the call, the woman from the bank asks, “Will there be any future wires to your friend?”
“Maybe,” the man says.
The Athletic was the first to get the recording.
The legal documents state that Mizuhara started accessing Ohtani’s account around November 2021 and changed the security settings so he could pretend to be Ohtani and approve wire payments. By 2024, Mizuhara reportedly spent around $325,000 on baseball cards from web sellers eBay and Whatnot.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty in June to spending millions from Ohtani’s Arizona bank account to cover his growing gambling bets and debts with an illegal gambler, as well as medical bills and the $325,000 worth of baseball cards.
Mizuhara was there for many important moments in the Japanese star’s career. He caught for Ohtani during the 2021 All-Star Game Home Run Derby and was present for his two American League MVP awards and his record-breaking 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers. Away from the game, he became Ohtani’s friend and trusted advisor.
Mizuhara famously quit his job with the Los Angeles Angels during the 2021 MLB lockout so he could continue talking to Ohtani. He was rehired once a deal was made, and their wives are said to have become friends.
He lost everything by betting tens of millions of dollars that didn’t belong to him on foreign soccer, the NBA, the NFL, and college football. However, prosecutors noted that he never placed any bets on baseball.
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