Baseball star Shohei Ohtani is asking his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards that he claims were fraudulently purchased with his own money.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star also accused Ippei Mizuhara, who has pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion for stealing approximately $17 million from unsuspecting players, of Ohtani’s autograph that Mizuhara was in “fraudulent and wrongful possession.” He is also requesting the return of his collectible baseball cards. The court filing was filed Tuesday.
According to the complaint, Mizuhara allegedly accessed Otani’s bank account starting around November 2021, impersonated Otani, and changed security protocols to allow wire transfers. By 2024, Mizuhara had used the money to buy about $325,000 worth of baseball cards from online resellers eBay and Whatnot, according to court documents.
Mr. Mizuhara’s attorney, Michael G. Friedman, declined to comment on the filing.
In June, Mizuhara withdrew millions from Ohtani’s bank account in Arizona to cover mounting gambling stakes, debts from illegal bookmakers, his own medical bills and $325,000 worth of baseball cards. Pleaded guilty to expending $1.
Mizuhara is scheduled to be sentenced in January after pleading guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return, which can carry a sentence of more than 30 years in federal prison. be. In addition, compensation to Ohtani could total nearly $17 million, and compensation to the IRS could exceed $1 million. And as a legal permanent resident with a green card, there is a possibility that he could be deported to Japan.
Mizuhara will be by Ohtani’s side for many of the Japanese sensation’s career highlights, from his performance as a catcher in the 2021 All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby to being a witness to his two-time American League MVP win and record-breaking $700 million win. I stood there. 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Off the field, Mizuhara became Ohtani’s friend and confidant. During the 2021 MLB lockout, he famously resigned from the Los Angeles Angels to continue speaking with Ohtani (he was rehired after the deal was signed), and their wives have reportedly become more social. There is.
But Mizuhara gambled everything away, betting tens of millions of dollars that didn’t belong to him on international soccer, the NBA, NFL, and college football. However, prosecutors said Mizuhara had never bet on baseball.
Earlier this year, Ohtani and the Dodgers won the World Series, earning the baseball star his third Most Valuable Player Award.
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