Japanese interpreter charged with stealing $16 million from Ohtani

LOS ANGELES — Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter was charged with bank fraud on Thursday in federal court and accused of stealing $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers power-hitting pitcher to cover gambling debts.

According to a 36-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Ippei Mizuhara embezzled the money from an account of Ohtani’s that Mizuhara had helped set up and sent the funds without Ohtani’s knowledge to an illegal sports gambling operation.

U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada, announcing the results of his investigation at a news conference, stressed that there was nothing to suggest wrongdoing by Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract to join the Dodgers this season as the league’s highest-paid player.

“I want to emphasize this point. Mr. Ohtani was a victim in this case. There’s no evidence to indicate that Mr. Ohtani authorized the over $16 million in transfers from his account to the bookmakers,” Estrada said.

The outcome spared the Dodgers and Major League Baseball a potential scandal of epic proportions, recalling the controversy stirred 35 years ago when Pete Rose was accused of gambling on baseball games, including those of his own team, while he played for and managed the Cincinnati Reds.

Those allegations led MLB to permanently ban Rose from baseball in 1989. Rose later admitted to wagering on MLB games, including those played by the Reds but said he never bet against his own team.

Ohtani, 29, whose talents as a slugger and a pitcher have earned him comparisons to Babe Ruth, told reporters at a March 25 press conference that he was a victim of theft by Mizuhara and that he never bet on baseball or knowingly paid a bookmaker.