Authorities in Los Angeles have filed charges against Shohei Ohtani’s former and longtime interpreter. The Japanese baseball star currently plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is said to have been defrauded of more than $16 million by his interpreter.
He uses the money to gamble and pay off the resulting debts. The Japanese interpreter has been working for Ohtani since 2018 and accompanied him at all public appointments. He is said to have used the language barrier to plunder the player’s bank account, which only Shohei Ohtani himself has access to.
Shohei Ohtani claims not to have noticed anything
Prosecutors believe the interpreter exploited his close relationship with Ohtani to withdraw money from his account, at times lying to bank employees and claiming he was the sports star himself. The reason is the Japanese’s gambling addiction. The prosecutor’s announcement is intended to end weeks of speculation about the interpreter’s gambling addiction and crimes against Ohtani.
The prosecutor explained that there was no evidence that Shohei Ohtani himself knew about his interpreter’s activities. The athlete cooperated fully with the investigators. He will be involved as a victim in the following trial. The criminal charges were filed based on text messages, financial records and recordings of telephone conversations. When the investigation opened in mid-March, the interpreter already knew that his fraud had been exposed.
If convicted, the Japanese man faces 30 years in prison in the USA for bank fraud. There is still no official announcement from his defense. The man should be brought before the court as soon as possible. The extent of the theft shocked the sports community, but completely exonerated Ohtani. The lifelong ban that was being discussed is said to be off the table for now, even if the Dodgers released the Japanese player immediately after the rumors arose.
Baseball star’s career continues to be burdened
Major League Baseball has launched its own investigation but wants to wait until the end of the criminal case before deciding whether to continue the internal investigation. MLB rules prohibit players and employees from betting on baseball games, but betting on other sports is also strictly prohibited.
According to the investigation, Ohtani’s interpreter is said to have placed around 19,000 bets between December 2021 and January 2024, an average of 25 per day. The stakes were between 10 and 160,000 US dollars (9.50 – 150,000 euros). So far there are no known bets on baseball games. The man transferred his winnings of over 142 million dollars (around 135 million euros) into his own account. However, he also lost $183 million (172 million euros).
The first rumors emerged at the beginning of the baseball season, at which point there were already investigations that were not made public. However, the great interest prompted the court to make it public. In mid-March, Ohtani paid off all of his interpreter’s gambling debts. However, he later explained that the athlete knew nothing about this and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.
Five days later, Shohei Ohtani said at a press conference that he had never taken part in a sports bet, nor was he aware that his interpreter had been involved. The athlete also knows nothing about debts that he is said to have paid off. The Japanese denied all accusations and contradicted his interpreter’s statements from the start.
2024-04-13 15:10:00
#Court #files #charges #Shohei #Ohtanis #interpreter
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