Major League Baseball announced late Friday afternoon that it has launched an official investigation into the Shohei Ohtani interpreter sports betting scandal.
A press release from MLB went out a tick before 6 p.m. ET, and the two-sentence, single-paragraph release misspelled the interpreter’s name.
“Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhari {sic} from the news media,” the release read, misspelling ‘Mizuhara’. “Earlier today, our Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process investigating the matter.”
The story broke on Wednesday, when the Los Angeles Times reported that representatives for Ohtani accused Mizuhara of stealing millions of dollars from the Dodgers star, in order to fund an illegal sports gambling addiction.
“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,” the West Hollywood law firm of Berk Brettler said in a statement.
ESPN, Sports Handle dig in 196w61
But ESPN reported that Ohtani transferred $4.5 million to the bookmaker to cover his since-fired interpreter’s debts, a claim that was later contradicted by Mizuhara.
“I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting,” Mizuhara, who was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday, told ESPN. “I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. … I’m terrible [at gambling.] Never going to do it again. Never won any money. I mean, I dug myself a hole and it kept on getting bigger, and it meant I had to bet bigger to get out of it and just kept on losing. It’s like a snowball effect.”
On Thursday, Sports Handle reported that Mizuhara’s debt — all $4.5 million — was paid to an associate of Matt Bowyer, who has been under the watchful eye of federal law enforcement for years.
A source familiar with the Las Vegas sports betting scene said Bowyer’s name is well-known as he’s operated an alleged illegal bookmaking operation for over a decade. Federal investigators raided Bowyer’s California home last October, seizing millions in cash according to multiple sources. This was not the first time authorities targeted Bowyer as cash and bank records were previously seized from his residence years ago.
The recent October raid allowed federal agents to obtain a warrant to search the phone of one of Bowyer’s associates, who allegedly served as his host at Resorts World casino in Las Vegas. The warrant enabled investigators to uncover evidence related to illegal gambling, money laundering, and unlawful offshore betting activities involving Bowyer and two other individuals.
In the meantime, the Dodgers split their season-opening series against the San Diego Padres in South Korea, and play their next regular season game on March 28 at home against the St. Louis Cardinals.
