Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani recently signed a historic contract in free agency. And unfortunately, it appears that one of the people closest to him has taken full advantage of that for his own personal gain.
On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Dodgers have fired Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara on Wednesday due to Mizuhara allegedly being tied to a “massive theft” investigation.
The reports suggest that Mizuhara was using Ohtani’s income to place bets on an illegal bookmaker who is under federal investigation. Multiple sources told the LA Times that the actual dollar amount taken from Ohtani was in the millions.
A West Hollywood law firm by the name of Berk Brettler offered some insight on the matter in a statement to the LA Times, saying that this information is being turned over to the authorities.
“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,” said representatives from Berk Brettler.
There will surely be more information to come out about this situation in the coming weeks and months. But fans took to social media to offer their opinion on what little information we do now currently know.
https://twitter.com/BSP_Sully/status/1770570246895673464
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter: pic.twitter.com/P2Zxrkc5Rc
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) March 20, 2024
The last 4 months of Shohei Ohtani’s life has been wild:
– Signs biggest contract in history of MLB, with insane deferrals
– Hard launches a dog then a wife(!)
– His interpreter and right hand man gets fired for stealing money from him to gamble— Jackson Krule (@JacksonKrule) March 20, 2024
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter did WHAT?
— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) March 20, 2024
This is obviously an incredibly sad situation for Ohtani to have someone he trusted like Mizuhara allegedly stealing from him. But hopefully, he can find a more trustworthy interpreter in the future.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.