Ippei Mizuhara’s escape of Shohei Otani was simple for the most part. Otani’s former interpreter had access to Otani’s bank account full of money and would write checks and withdraw cash whenever he made bets or needed to pay gambling debts.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty in June to bank fraud and tax evasion and was ordered to pay full restitution to his victims, including $16,975,010 to Otani and $1,149,400 to the National Tax Agency. There is. He is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on January 24th.
But apparently Mizuhara found another way to steal from Ohtani, both while the two-way baseball star played with the Angels and after he signed with the Dodgers in December 2023. On one occasion, Mizuhara needed $60,000 worth of dental treatment, and Otani approved payment from the medical institution. A business account, according to prosecutors. However, Mizuhara deposited the money into his own bank account and paid the dentist from Otani’s account, which he illegally controlled, prosecutors said.
Shortly after Ohtani joined the Dodgers, Mizuhara reportedly bought $325,000 worth of baseball cards, hoping that their value would increase because his boss wore blue. Some of the collectible cards were signed and Mizuhara purchased them from online resellers eBay and Whatnot, according to court documents.
The cards were confiscated from Mizuhara, and Otani has a hearing scheduled for December 20th in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to retrieve the cards.
Prosecutors said in a court filing Monday that the cards (referred to in court filings as the “Silver and Black Panoply Incident” and the “Gray Panoply Incident”) were used by Mizuhara to participate in the match. A public hearing was no longer necessary, as he said the case would be handed over to Otani at the time. It was declared.
“At the time the act giving rise to the forfeiture was committed, ownership of the confiscated property vested in Ohtani, and Ohtani held a valid existing interest in the confiscated property,” the government wrote in its filing. .
Mizuhara’s “insatiable appetite for illegal sports betting” as US Atty. E. Martin Estrada said the result would be a lengthy prison sentence and almost certainly deportation to Mizuhara’s native Japan.
According to a 36-page indictment filed in April, Mizuhara pretended to be Ohtani in phone calls to bank employees regarding wire transfers and disclosed details of Ohtani’s life history to overcome security concerns. The details were used.
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