Shohei Ohtani addressed the media on Monday after allegations emerged that his former interpreter stole millions of dollars from his bank account to pay an illegal bookmaker.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star, the most famous active baseball player in the world and a huge celebrity in his native Japan, addressed journalists in a press conference but did not take any questions from the media.
Last week, Ippei Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani had agreed to pay off his interpreter’s gambling debts, which are said to be more than $1m. Mizuhara had placed bets with a bookmaker in California, where gambling is illegal. However, Ohtani’s lawyers soon issued a statement saying Ohtani had been a victim of “massive theft” orchestrated by Mizuhara. In a subsequent interview with ESPN, Mizuhara said he had lied in his initial statement and that Ohtani knew nothing about the gambling debts.
Ohtani said he had no idea Mizuhara was going to speak to the media last week, and he only became aware of the interpreter’s gambling problem during a team meeting last week.
“All of this has been a complete lie,” Ohtani said on Monday. “Ippei obviously basically didn’t tell me about the media inquiry. So Ippei has been telling everyone around that he has been communicating with me on this account to the media and my team and that hasn’t been true.”
Mizuhara, who had a close bond with Ohtani beyond their working relationship, was fired and Major League Baseball later opened an investigation.
Ohtani said he had never bet on any sports or knowingly sent money to his former interpreter to cover gambling debts.
“[I am] beyond shocked, it’s hard to verbalise how I am feeling at this point,” he said in a prepared statement through his new interpreter, Will Ireton.
MLB players are forbidden from betting on baseball, and face a lifetime ban if found to have placed a wager on their own team. They are allowed to bet on other sports in the nearly 40 US states where gambling is legal, but not in California.
“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, and was never asked to assist betting payments for anyone else,” Ohtani said.
Mizuhara had been Ohtani’s translator since the star moved from Japan to play for the Los Angeles Angels in 2018. Ohtani joined the Dodgers in December on a 10-year, $700m deal. He made his Dodgers debut on Wednesday in a victory over the San Diego Padres in South Korea last week.
“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Ohtani said.
Mizuhara said last week that Ohtani did not place any bets himself. “I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting,” he said.
The IRS says Mizuhara is under criminal investigation over the allegations.
