This person was fired after being accused of stealing millions of dollars from the Dodgers’ star to gamble illegally.

Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara

According to the Los Angeles Times, a spokesperson for the Dodgers confirmed that Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s exclusive interpreter, has been fired, mentioning “two sources” indicating that the embezzled amount reaches “millions of dollars”.

ESPN’s sports news website reported that Ohtani’s representative previously stated that the Japanese star had transferred money to cover debts for Mizuhara. Additionally, in an interview with ESPN on March 19, Mizuhara also confirmed this information.

However, just a day later, ESPN reported that Mizuhara changed his story, admitting to stealing the money himself, and Ohtani was unaware of it.

Ohtani’s representative accuses Mizuhara of being involved in a “major theft” of the player’s assets to gamble at an illegal casino, which is the target of a federal investigation. According to ESPN, $4.5 million, equivalent to about 680 million Japanese yen, was transferred from Ohtani’s account to this casino.

Ippei Mizuhara (in the middle) is Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter.

Mizuhara claimed full responsibility for everything, also revealing his gambling addiction. “Clearly, this is all my fault, everything is my doing. I am ready to face all consequences,” Mizuhara said in an interview with ESPN.

The regulations of Major League Baseball prohibit team personnel from betting on baseball or engaging in illegal gambling. However, Mizuhara asserted to ESPN that he was unaware that betting with the casino was illegal.

“I have never bet on baseball. That’s 100 percent true. I know the rule… We had a meeting about it in spring training,” Mizuhara said.

Ippei Mizuhara (39 years old) hails from Hokkaido, moved to Los Angeles when he was young, and graduated from a university in the United States. Since 2012, Mizuhara has worked as an interpreter for foreign players at the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters professional baseball team, and Shohei Otani joined the club during that time.

Both of them share a very close relationship.

After Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels in the Major League Baseball in the 2017 season, Mizuhara also moved to the Angels and became Ohtani’s exclusive interpreter. In the current season, as Ohtani moved from the Angels to the Dodgers, Mizuhara also accompanied the player.

Mizuhara not only served as an interpreter but also chauffeured the player to the stadium, always accompanying Ohtani. This garnered Mizuhara a great deal of trust and he was considered family by the player.

In November 2021, when Ohtani won his first MVP title (Most Valuable Player of the season), he mentioned Mizuhara as someone who had supported him through difficulties.

Mizuhara’s sudden departure from the team has raised concerns among fans about its impact on Ohtani, who has just started the season with the new team Dodgers after signing a record-breaking $700 million contract.