Things got lost in translation! – For Shohei Ohtani, it was more about his trust that was gone for a toss – when his former interpreter gambled with Shotime’s reliance. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to help with communication between the Japanese Pitcher and his English-speaking teammates, stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account. However, after pleading guilty to his misconduct, Mizuhara cited that he carried out the scam to bear the cost of his wife’s frequent travel plans.

Mizuhara is a translator for sure, but it seems like he speaks with a forked tongue. How?

On February 6th, when the former interpreter submitted a statement to the court – he mentioned that he needed money for various personal expenses. “All of these extra expenses were taking a huge toll on me and I was living paycheck to paycheck. I would have to borrow money from family and friends,” said Mizuhara. As reported by the Japanese newspaper Hochi news, one of the claims even stated that the cost of the defendant’s wife’s frequent trips back to Japan was a burden. To this, the prosecution pointed out that Ohtani had paid first-class fares for all the trips.

But wait! there’s more to the story.

When he stood with remorse infront of the federal judge John Holcomb, Mizuhara admitted that he met an illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer in 2021. Following which, he became “desperate for money” and “stupidly thought this might be an opportunity to help myself out financially,” he confessed in his statement. That’s when the betting scandal unfolded!

It turned out, in last three years, Mizuhara placed around 19,000 wagers on sports, which ranged between $10 to $160,000 per bet. With this, he not just accumulated winning bets that summed up to $142.3 million, but he also lost $182.9 million in the process. Alas! For Mizuhara, it was indeed a good enough reason to become desperate for money to compensate for the loss. Nevertheless, Ohtani’s former translator implored for a reduced sentence. But his request went in vain.

Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter stands guilty as charged!

On February 6th, the federal district court of Santa Ana, California, pleaded Mizuhara guilty of committing the bank fraud! – the decision came exactly 11 months after the Dodgers fired him for stealing millions from the Japanese star to cover his gambling debts. However, the defense counsel requested to reduce the prison sentence to 18 months. But, after taking all the frauds into consideration that Ohtani’s ex-interpreter committed, the federal court imposed the 57-month (4 years 9 months) prison sentence to Mizuhara, with a 3 years of supervised release.

Interestingly, Mizuhara had worked alongside Ohtani for more than a decade. He has been with the Japanese pitcher since his playing days with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2013. During his time with the 3x MVP award winner, Mizuhara helped him as his interpreter, personal assistant, home run derby catcher, and a close friend.

But, in his pursuit of making a killing, Mizuhara ended up ruining a decade old friendship!

In fact, when the scam surfaced last year, Shohei Ohtani was “saddened and shocked” to know that someone he put his trust in had done this. Nonetheless, after the incident unfolded, Major League Baseball cleared Ohtani of any felony in this case, and declared him the victim of massive theft.

More so, in his letter to the court, Mizuhara penned, “I admire Shohei as a baseball player and a human being, I was committed to devote my life so Shohei can be the best version of himself on the field. I want to say I am truly sorry for violating his trust in me.”

Though Mizuhara asked for an apology, Shohei Ohtani indeed lost his decade old confidante forever!