LA Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's translator Ippei Mizuhara fired over allegations of 'massive theft'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Shohei Ohtani became a victim of a ‘massive theft’ after his translator allegedly used his bank account to settle his gambling debt.

Ohtani's long-time interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is said to have moved at least $4.5 million from Ohtani’s bank account to a bookmaker, reports BBC.

Shohei Ohtani's translator paid bookmaker from his bank account

According to the team's senior communications director, they are further examining and gathering information against Ippei Mizuhara, while Ohtani has been given a clean chit.

The management "can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated," the outlet reported.

According to BBC, ESPN has studied bank information showing Ohtani's name on two $500,000 payments.

One was sent in September and the other in October, to a bookmaking operation run by Mathew Bowyer.

As per the LA Times, Bowyer was investigated by a prosecution team as they dug deeper into a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting scheme.

Interestingly, sports betting is legal in 38 states in America but it is still illegal in California.

The Major League Baseball (MLB) has its own guidelines, banning, "any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee" from betting on any baseball game and placing bets with illegal bookmakers.

Shohei Ohtani's attorneys claim star player victim of 'massive theft'

"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 statement was published in LA Times from West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler.

On Wednesday, Ohtani played in the MLB season-opening game in Seoul, South Korea, where his team clinched a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has refused to comment on the recent development but confirmed that the Japanese player will take the field for their second game of the series.

"Shohei's ready - ready to go for tonight's game," he said.

Ohtani is the latest sensation in the realm of baseball, and last year signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.

The 29-year-old had just won his second unanimous American League MVP award.

Why is Shohei Ohtani not speaking to the media, wonders the Internet

The gambling scandal has shaken Ohtani's fans and since he is tight-lipped about the whole thing, trolls and fans on social media have come up with various theories about what could have gone wrong for the player. 

Rumors have also spread that Ohtani was aware of his translator Muzihara's gambling problem and had even bailed him out once for it. However, this story has had many changed versions. 

Trolls and conspiracy theorists have also floated the narrative that Ohtani may have been allegedly involved in the gambling himself and his translator is taking the fall for it. Various memes on social media are also ridiculing Ohtani. 

"Ohtani when the MLB came to investigate his gambling debt," wrote one troll on X (formerly Twitter) accompanied by a meme of a scene from 'Dumb and Dumber'.

"Ohtani finding out his interpreter has been gambling his money for him," wrote another social media user accompanied by a meme involving former president Donald Trump. 

One trolled the player saying Ohtani is "not speaking to the media because he has bets to place!"

Poking fun at the news one social media user expressed his disbelief saying, "MLB: Ohtani wasn’t the one gambling it was his interpreter."

One troll wrote: "MLB and Ohtani pinning his 4 million dollar gambling debt on Ippei," indicating that they thought there was more to the story than what meets the eye.

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