Shohei Ohtani is in the middle of the most recent sports scandal. Ohtani’s longtime friend and language interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was accused of stealing money through Ohtani’s account and using it to bet illegally. 

Initially, Mizuhara was accused of stealing around four million dollars. After further investigation that number has turned out to be approximately 16 million dollars. Mizuhara was using this money to bet through an illegal bookie in the state of California. Ohtani’s name was connected to the bookie via wire transfers. Mizuhara supposedly had access to Ohtani’s bank account and used this to place his bets. Spanning the course of three years, Mizuhara allegedly placed over 19,000 bets totaling over 40 million dollars in losses. Some fans still think Ohtani has more involvement than what is being said and needs to be investigated. MLB has made a response to the backlash. 

According to bleacherreport.com, “Major League Baseball announced Thursday that it would wait until the conclusion of the federal government’s case against Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, before deciding if a further investigation into Ohtani was necessary.” 

Some fans believed it was Ohtani doing the betting. There is, however, no evidence to back this theory up.  

According to bleacherreport.com, “Investigators found no evidence that Ohtani was aware of Mizuhara’s gambling issues, and Ohtani told authorities he never authorized wire transfers to illegal bookies.” 

There are many ongoing investigations still occurring involving this case. Only time will tell the outcome of this case involving one of baseball’s biggest superstars.