Shohei Ohtani victim of a crime

H

haysus31

Blue Belt
@Blue
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
557
Reaction score
242
His side claims his translator stole a bunch of money from him to cover millions of dollars in gambling losses. According to his lawyer he is a victim of a crime and is not gambling.
 
The crime is throwing his translator under the bus. Them checks were signed by him. He must've thought he signed with Toronto and could enjoy Ontario's gambling rules.

Seriously though, betting on sports is illegal in...California? Who knew? Not Ohtani.
 
​

Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani's interpreter amid allegation of 'massive theft'​

 
HereticBD said:
The crime is throwing his translator under the bus. Them checks were signed by him. He must've thought he signed with Toronto and could enjoy Ontario's gambling rules.

Seriously though, betting on sports is illegal in...California? Who knew? Not Ohtani.
Click to expand...
100% these were Ohtani's bets

WTF kind of bookie gives a $4.5 mill line of credit to a fucking translator lmao
 
Glad to know a classy/well ran org like my cangels weren’t willing to enable an illegal gambling operation. Makes sense that he goes to the classless dodgers where their fortune was made off the money of criminals lmao.
 
Shohei Ohtani investigation: MLB begins formal probe into gambling scandal, Dodgers star can still play

Shohei Ohtani investigation: MLB begins formal probe into gambling scandal, Dodgers star can still play​

Ohtani remains an active player​

Mike Axisa ( <--- LOLOLOL)

By Mike Axisa

Major League Baseball has launched an investigation concerning Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and the alleged "massive theft" committed by his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, the league announced Friday. MLB has not placed Ohtani on administrative leave and he remains an active player.

"Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhari from the news media," MLB said in a statement. "Earlier today, our Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process investigating the matter."

Ohtani, Mizuhara, and the Dodgers were in Seoul, South Korea, for the two-game Seoul Series with the San Diego Padres when the story broke on March 19. Mizuhara was fired immediately.

Mizuhara is alleged to have taken upwards of $4.5 million from Ohtani through a series of wire transfers. The funds were used to cover gambling debts and were sent to an illegal bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer, in California. Bowyer is under federal investigation and Ohtani's name surfaced in the matter while it was being investigated by the Los Angeles Times.


Bowyer's lawyer, Diane Bass, told CBS Sports the following: "Mr. Bowyer had no contact with Mr. Ohtani."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles declined to comment when reached by CBS Sports.

Initially, Mizuhara said Ohtani paid his gambling debts at his request. Mizuhara changed his story soon thereafter and said Ohtani had no knowledge of the payments. Ohtani's lawyers discovered the missing money and alerted the authorities.


"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," a spokesperson for Berk Brettler law firm told CBS Sports in a statement on March 20.

MLB players and team employees are allowed to legally gamble on sports other than baseball and softball, however Rule 21(f) expressly forbids associating with illegal bookmakers regardless of betting activity. Anyone who violates Rule 21(f) is "subject to such penalty as the Commissioner deems appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances of the conduct."

Sports betting is illegal in California.

Mizuhara says he bet on international soccer as well as the NBA, NFL, and college basketball, but never baseball. He also says he believed the bets he placed with Bowyer were legal.


Mizuhara and Ohtani first met in 2013, five years before Ohtani made the jump from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball to Major League Baseball. Mizuhara was Ohtani's interpreter throughout his time with the Los Angeles Angels and he joined the Dodgers upon Ohtani's signing with the club this past offseason. Here's more on Mizuhara.

Ohtani, 29, signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers. The deal includes heavy deferrals -- Ohtani will be paid only $2 million a year from 2024-33, with the rest paid out in $68 million annual installments from 2034-43. He reportedly makes more than $50 million per year in endorsements.
 
Guy called into sports talk radio who used to be in the illegal gambling business until he got in trouble with the law. Dude gave specifics about how there is no way in hell people in that business are extending credit in those numbers to anyone who isn't big time. You have to have huge pockets they can trust not some guy who is a translator.
 
haysus31 said:
Guy called into sports talk radio who used to be in the illegal gambling business until he got in trouble with the law. Dude gave specifics about how there is no way in hell people in that business are extending credit in those numbers to anyone who isn't big time. You have to have huge pockets they can trust not some guy who is a translator.
Click to expand...
If you were to reach, being Ohtani's translator who's tight with him and on TV everyday, would carry some sway. When you're associated with a big fish like Ohtani, I'd imagine bookies would weigh the odds at you being good for a paltry sum like 4.5 million dollars.

That said, I think it's pretty obvious at what this is. Ohtani made a booboo, and his translator will take the fall for him, and likely have his family taken care of for the rest of their lives.
 
HereticBD said:
If you were to reach, being Ohtani's translator who's tight with him and on TV everyday, would carry some sway. When you're associated with a big fish like Ohtani, I'd imagine bookies would weigh the odds at you being good for a paltry sum like 4.5 million dollars.

That said, I think it's pretty obvious at what this is. Ohtani made a booboo, and his translator will take the fall for him, and likely have his family taken care of for the rest of their lives.
Click to expand...
Remember
Those "guys" are moving and dealing in cash. They ain't fan duel. Their business collapses if word gets out they can't cover a bet. That much credit is only extended to huge rollers or Hollywood celebs
 
Just curious, why would someone with so much to lose, place bets with an illegal bookmaker when legal gambling is so accessible these days?
 
mjmj said:
Just curious, why would someone with so much to lose, place bets with an illegal bookmaker when legal gambling is so accessible these days?
Click to expand...
You think MLB doesn't have rules regarding betting for its players?
 
mjmj said:
Just curious, why would someone with so much to lose, place bets with an illegal bookmaker when legal gambling is so accessible these days?
Click to expand...
If it's against league rules(I'm not sure how far that all stretches), you could conceal your bets by placing them with a bookie under the table. Theoretically, anyways.

Honestly, I think Ohtani just didn't know the laws, and his buddy will take the fall for it, with the promise that he'll be taken care of.

I can't fucking wait to see the bullshit the "MLB investigation" turns up that magically clears Ohtani of any wrongdoing.
 
HereticBD said:
The crime is throwing his translator under the bus. Them checks were signed by him. He must've thought he signed with Toronto and could enjoy Ontario's gambling rules.

Seriously though, betting on sports is illegal in...California? Who knew? Not Ohtani.
Click to expand...
It’s obvious he knew if they were going through an illegal bookie.
 
mjmj said:
Just curious, why would someone with so much to lose, place bets with an illegal bookmaker when legal gambling is so accessible these days?
Click to expand...
It’s an addiction for some regardless of financial standing and stature. If he is behind this then idk why he wouldn’t just play for a team that has legal gambling in that state.
 
I did not know you sign wire transfers done via the computer.

RE: credit to some guy, they'd probably give credit if the guy claimed his long time BFF would financially cover his losses. I'm guessing the translator kept the login and password after helping Shohei use an English bank website.

I read some timeline and they suggested the translator wasn't translating honestly with Shohei who then asked others WTF just happened and Kenta Maeda's old translator had to tell him the truth.
 
I'll wait and see what pans out. The changing story makes it look bad, hard to believe this dude would somehow be able to run up a $4.5M tab and Otani would just pay that for him instead of firing him. MLB will likely try to sweep this under the rug. Otani is the Golden Boy.
 
Hard to believe if you don't know the history. They were buddies from back when Shohei was with Ham Fighters in Japan and Ippei was someone else's translator. Shohei took him with him to the Angels then to Dodgers. Ippei said he spends more time w/Shohei than his own wife. He puts on catching gear and catches for him, did grocery shopping for him when injured (weird because I thought he only had arm injuries).

What's fucked up is the betrayal and to such a good human being like Shohei.

Consider everything Shohei does is carefully thought out ever since he wrote out some detailed multi-factored gameplan for how he will become a baseball star when he was a kid. See the ESPN+ Shohei documentary also on Disney+. He's not Jon Jones. He's not going to do anything stupid to jeopardize his image and income earning.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,237,108
Messages
55,467,908
Members
174,786
Latest member
plasterby

Share this page

Back
Top