Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani recently faced a gambling and theft scandal. He denied that he played any bookies in any sport, and he also denied betting. He went on to blame his interpreter, who, according to the two-time MVP, was stealing money from his account.
Ohtani signed with baseball’s richest contract team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and said that he did not know that millions were being sent from one of his accounts to a bookmaker until five days ago. He blamed his interpreter for the same; let’s see what went down.
Ohtani blames the interpreter for the scandal
Ippei Mizuhara is his longtime interpreter, whom he met after learning about the money transfer. “I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I’ve trusted has done this,” said Ohtani. The sentence of the two-way player in the major league was translated by Dodgers employee Will Ireton.
He generally does not like giving media interviews; however, this time he could not sit back. The statements from the MVP athlete are the first comments since the scandal broke out in the previous week. He acknowledged that there were ongoing federal investigations, and he could only say limited things.
More on the case
He also declared, “I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf and I have never gone through a bookmaker to bet on sports.” He said this at the Dodgers Stadium before an exhibition game against city rivals the Los Angeles Angels.
The Internal Revenue Service and Major League Baseball are doing the investigation. They are also trying to determine whether any strict rules against gambling have been broken. Any player or employee in the baseball industry can be suspended for a year if they are caught gambling. There is also a rule that someone found gambling during a game can be suspended for a lifetime.
Ohtani said he learned about the gambling from his interpreter after the Dodgers game. He did not have a translator during the meeting but knew something was off. The saga continues and we can only wait and see what happens.