A friend who doesn’t only want good things. Ippei Mizuhara is the former voice of Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani and a close friend of his. He was charged Thursday with embezzlement of more than $16 million to the detriment of the player who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers club.
Ippei Mizuhara, suspected of siphoning off his friend’s bank account to pay gambling debts, was fired by his team in March. Aged 39, he is being prosecuted for bank fraud, punishable by a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, prosecutors said in a press release.
The player unaware
In September 2021, the defendant began making illegal bets and lost considerable amounts of money within a few months, according to court documents. From November 2021 to January 2024, he took more than $16 million from Shohei Ohtani’s account without authorization, according to the same sources.
There is no evidence the player knew, prosecutors say. The superstar, who told investigators last week that he had not authorized these transfers, handed over his phone to them. They concluded “there is no evidence that Ohtani knew of or was involved in Mizuhar’s illegal gambling or repayment of these debts,” according to the statement.
2024-04-11 20:25:55
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