I mean they never released the interview

Not really. The FBI provided the tip to ESPN. They interviewed Ippei for 90 minutes. Ippei admitted to everything. Ohtani’s lawyer found something or new information that led them to say “theft”

It's not journalism when you take the word from the criminal himself. It's a frank conversation at best if Ippei isn't lying which i doubt.

The journalism they achieved was 1) viewing and confirming the wire transfers took place in Ohtani's name, 2) setting up and conducting an interview with Ippei, 3) going back to Ohtani's camp to tell them they're running the story, 4) pointing out that the story from Ohtani's camp changed from one day to the next as a result of the interview, 5) pointing out that Ippei changed his story, 6) disclosing the timeline of events in news story.

@jamesgoss1860 good point

lmfao!!! they should pin your comment

Super ILL comment fr

Best comment.

actually fucking laughed in the middle of a meeting reading this.

@@wesleywinfield686 sorry man i apologize hope your meeting went well

Spot on

"WE" don't. ESPN, NBC, NFL, etc do. They are enemies of "US".

facts

WE are regular people who can gamble if we want, ohtani is not a regular guy, we should be "shocked" because hes a pro player whos gambling and this is a straightforward rule that was broken by the golden child, also i think people are "shocked" because he was such a dumbass to not do a better job hiding it/got caught, im honestly not suprised one bit and theres probs many other players out there who are doing it and arent getting caught sorry i dont know if i understand your comment correctly maybe i am off topic of your point

@@Doz899 One race, the human race

netflix did an episode of bad sports about it. A bookie had like 3 ncaa players point shaving

Why's he gotta be shady

Can the briefcase have a big $ sign?

So different. Rose bet in games he was directly involved in. He should be banned.

There isn't enough info here. Ohtani could absolutely have placed bets on games he was playing in but MLB will take those Ohanti bucks because no one really cares about Pete Rose besides Reds fans.

​@Usefulidiot038 oh no the all-time hit leader. Pffst, he's boring. Tell anyone else good luck getting 4256 hits.

@ Usefulidiot038 - You could not be more wrong about Pete Rose. He’s one of the greatest baseball players ever, and that fact is not changed by what team you root for.

​@@thomasboaz9950 Ichiro Suzuki? 4,367 lifetime professional hits between MLB and NPB.

Only way to actually win

Let's just play Baseball ⚾️ the trolls are trying to make a big deal on some non ballplayer translalater placing sports bets, I do it with Draftkings almost everyday, who cares and let's play ball.

He definitely used a Promo code at checkout

Big G @@HighTide_808

He should be banned for life.​@@trevorcarey3997

Genius? Maybe slightly clever.

Not as genius as misspelling a direct quote. Copy/paste is your friend.

"He who would pun would pick a pocket"

Pete rose is more likely to be governor of Nevada than be reinstated in baseball.

@@rossdilworth3412Not if Draft Kings the official sports book of MLB has its way.

@@rossdilworth3412 if they have to lifetime ban ohtani, I bet they would rethink Pete's ban and keep ohtani

It's about time. Same with the steroid era guys.

MLB-"Did we say gambling was bad? We were kidding! It's okay. We're all good. Welcome back Pete, we love ya! 😂😂😂

That interpreter is going to be well paid under the table. By keeping his mouth shut.

Ohtani speaks English, the translator thing was always a ruse.

no one

That guy was getting paid half a mil a year, at least that's what the ESPN article said. That's how he ended up in a poker game with the bookie, it was probably a high roller table (well, high roller for SD). I get it, you hear interpreter and you assume it's a simple, low paying, service job but he was really with Othani all the time, travelling everywhere, being with him in every team meeting and every activity, going over scouting reports during games, he wasn't just standing next to him in post game interviews. He had money, enough to make stupid decisions and dig himself that hole. The bookie, who is already running an illegal operation, accepting bets from someone he saw has money at a poker game isn't that surprising.

@@Ishai1 no I don't think low level service job, I think Ohtani got himself in this debt and the interpreter is the fall guy

@@Ishai1 I've seen $300k, but even if that's the case with 500k, you're still not getting anywhere near $4.5m in credit. Bookies are not going to float you 10+x your annual take home pay in credit because they know how unlikely it is that you can actually pay that back, let alone do so in a timely manner. This isn't like getting a mortgage where you're on a 30 year payment plan.

The bookie gave the line of credit banking on Shohei becoming a client. Also "the translator" was making $500K/year.

He said quote"i wish I had an interpreter in the 70s and 80s caus then I would have gotten off Scott free."

I'm ready to see him go play for the Lakers G-league affiliate 😂

MJ didn’t have a lackey cover anything up

For sure.

​@@ChocolateMilk1978Occam's Razor dictates that Ippei is the gambler. Betting on sports is NOT a Japanese cultural past-time whereas in the US, it is -- which Ippei happens to be raised in (USA). Ohtani has no lick of an idea about football, basketball, tennis, etc., and he doesn't care either. All he knows and cares about is baseball (MLB). So the only realistic avenue for him to bet on is baseball BUT that is colossally stupid because -- common sense also dictates -- you shouldn't bet on the games you are scheduled to play and you really shouldn't bet on any other games either because of a conflict of interest -- and, especially, insider knowledge -- will present itself sooner or later when you belong in the same league. It's common sense. Shohei is a world class athlete with hundreds of millions in deferred money set aside for him. Sports gambling is beneath him -- no use (he's generationally wealthy) or time for it -- and is typically reserved for the (not so rich) general public -- which Ippei is essentially a part of. I struggle to think Ohtani can be that dense.

@@sixtynine2856 You sound idiotic talking about someone who literally doesn't even speak your language as if you know him. LOL

😂😂😂

Still bagged 350M I don’t see no victim there

Bagged 350M then proceeds to give up 4 Earned Runs in 1 inning.

Haha and to make it worse his horrible first start against the Padres

​@@azgunnerEvery player struggles in their first game, I remember Pedro Martinez struggled in his very first game also, and a couple of seasons he struggled but he became a great pitcher later on.

Pete should have hired an interpreter. He’d be a hall of famer if he had.

Love it😂😂

Free Pete!!!

Pete rose speaking that Appalachian creole. Therefore reinstate.

While I agree Rose should be in the Hall. But the key will be if baseball was bet on. If not, then there's a slight difference

My understanding is yes

That’s why the story changed to “theft”, I imagine. Because if Ohtani did wire the money, he’s still involved. Probably the lawyers pointed that out and changed the story.

@@The11IsaN💯

As a Californian I can tell you it's illegal. Think of RICO and you'll understand.

Not just in California , it’s a federal crime

He makes 50 million off the field a year.

@@Wben113 if he were a gambling addict he’d want every penny

It doesn't work that way. They bet for the rush of it, period. You're comparing a person with tons of money gambling, to a person with not enough money gambling. Both gamble for the same reason, the rush.

@@Wben113 agree to disagree…. Gamblers no matter how much they make eventually hit a wall. If Ohtani is a gambler then 4.5 is nothing to him but 4.5 is also almost 5 times his current structure in his deal. It just doesn’t make sense

It might be when you're already worth over a hundred million. Not saying that's the case but buddy has dollars already, the Dodgers contract is just his retirement/generational wealth for any future kids plan.

He didnt even bet baseball I dont see anything wrong

​@@jerm1499its the illegal bookie in CA that lies the problem.

​@jerm1499 Ohtani directly wired at least 1 mil to a illegal bookmaker, you don't see a problem?

@@cheffman7127 honestly I blame Newsom hahaha ha. I can't even sports bet in CA is ridiculous. I have to travel outside of ca to sports bet.

That's a YOU problem. @@jerm1499

For who? Shohei? I highly doubt Shohei is betting on American Football games. It's messy because Shohei did probably want to help out the interpreter but I have a feeling his family members were incensed when they heard Shohei agreed to pay off $4.5million in debt and want him to recoup it so he's saying it's theft now.

that's his buddy his blood brother his bestfriend this is a lose-lose situation for the both of them :(

I was lucky enough to spot them at a grocery store. They were buds. Laughing, joking, ribbing each other. And when I cautiously approached them to say hello ippei squared his shoulders at me in a semi fighting stance. This is a sad sad story.

Shame whatever happened there

If the bets were not on baseball what did they do wrong?

Maybe Ohtani shouldn’t be gambling and then using his friend as the fall guy then…

Ippei would have to prove he is an addict for his story to be true otherwise ohtani in deep doo doo

Can’t forge wire transfers 😂

@@Dm0stFin3sT Sure you can, you just need to know bank details.

@@Dm0stFin3sT it can be theft on many grounds: 1) Ippei could have used shohei’s name to get credit. That’s theft number 1. 2) shohei paying ippei’s debt when in actuality they are defrauding shohei’s money that’s theft #2. 3) they use shohei’s name to attract other clients. That’s theft #3.

@@Dm0stFin3sTcould’ve forged fake debt and make Ohtani pay for those

@@greenhat7618 exactly, that debt could be a total defrauding scheme to make shohei bail him out

How does this work? Just because Ippei is interpreter of Ohtani, the bookmaker let Ippei borrow $5M??? It more looks like Ohtani was betting and Ippei was the fall guy no?

It doesn't make any sense for Ohtani to be gambling. We obviously know nothing about the guy aside from his abilities as an MLB player but he's perfectly aware all eyes are on him, it would be really stupid for anyone to risk their career because of gambling. Also, it makes 0 sense to be gambling when you're worth almost a billion dollars and you're on a league with cero time to be spent on those type of things

What's curious to me is what a coincidence that the gambling situation came from the player that's probably gonna be considered the best MLB player of all time and isn't either American or Latino

​@@elisamuelpedraza8228yeah it doesn't make any sense for people to do most things they do, they do it anyway. MJ was a glorified alcoholic and gambling addict

@@elisamuelpedraza8228 Agree, but at the same time $5m is 10x what Ippei makes as a salary and that is unrealistic. Maybe Ohtani had no knowledge about the MLB rules and US state law. No way Bookmaker allow Ippei to borrow that kind of money.

😂😂😂😂😂 excellent point lmao

アメリカの記者が日本語を勉強しないとね

His interpreter got into some serious sh*t

He was involved in that SVB money laundering scheme.

Or perhaps Ohtani did.

For Shohei, pretty good I guess!

@@173jaSon371When the Dodgers are in Chicago yes sir!

Same. I’ve been a fan of ohtani, for baseball, and this sucks. When Superman has a dirty secret, it makes you lose hope for humanity. And yes I’m being dramatic.. but still. He was great for the game, in a lot of ways. I hope he doesn’t end up giving people reasons to hate him. 😔

You haven't followed sports long enough. This is nothing. As soon as his agent and agency gets all the details this will be over.

lol why? They literally have gambling ads on all the channels .

I don't think illegal bothers him. Rich famous guys don't go to jail. A baseball suspension bothers him.

he’ll be fine, paying a debt isn’t illegal. but if he was betting or if he has any winnings through illegal means then he’s in trouble. ippei may be ok if he didn’t actually steal or win anything. but japanese media reports aren’t looking good for him

You think that’s crazy I had a 4 NCAA parlay at +1200 odds and only leg of the parlay to lose was Temple +7.5 over UAB.. and there’s an investigation going on right now involving that game cause the line went from +1.5 to +7.5 over night and the 4th game of Temples this year where suspicious betting has happened. So I only may have lost the parlay due to Temple throwing the game to not cover the spread intentionally

Possible

Plausible. He did cover bets AND was robbed. But that still puts him in deep doo-doo.

😂😂😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Brutal 😞

Every player struggles in their first game, I remember Pedro Martinez struggled in his very first game also, and a couple of seasons he struggled but he became a great pitcher later on.

🥁

And that would mean Ohtani did the honorable thing and threw his friend under the bus, and maybe in jail. Great guy.

@@pocketaces6756 if he didn’t steal the money he won’t be going in no jail, which is what doesn’t make sense cuz if that part was fake then how could they have contacted the authority about it? Wouldn’t that amount to false testimony or obstruction of justice?

@@greenhat7618 Exactly. Going on the theory that Shohei paid it, and then changed his story to Ippei stole it. If Shoehei paid it, and then lied to authorities claiming theft, he would get charges for filing a false report, as well as maybe other charges for sending that money. If he's telling the truth, then Ippei needs to be arrested.

@@pocketaces6756yeah now thinking about it it just seems like there is still a lot we don’t know, the whole thing is way too murky and convoluted it doesn’t really make sense, gotta wait for more info to come out to really tell.

Cover-up always gets ya.

He didnt bet baseball what was done thats wrong?

Do you not know anything about Asians and gambling lol

If he was smart enough to have Ippei place the bets, why would he not also give Ippei the money to pay off the debt. Doesn't make sense to leave a partial trail.

@@jxhide Having large money transfers from a multimillionaire as a "loan" is far less sus than having those same transfers from accounts owned by his interpreter.

Doesn't line up with the theft story they're trying to push and why would the terp have access to ohtanis bank account.

As someone with a vague interest in baseball (living in Australia), my thinking is Ohtani thought Mizuhara was trustworthy enough to do the role of managing his money for him like his mother used to do whilst in Japan.

Otani doesn’t speak English. For you to do business with bookies, you have conversations. How can you talk if you don’t know the language? The interpreter knows Japanese and English. He was sports betting. The question is if Otani knew about or not

I'll put 100 on that..

like comparing apples to railroad cars.

I'm sure Fanduel will have odds on it

Give me 200 on guilty

Pete Rose bet on Baseball, iPPEi never did‼️ it is a very different case!

Thats it and of story

😀

Sure

Uh...huh. SMH.

No....the Interpreter is taking the fall to protect Ohtani's squeaky clean image.

Ya, because bookies let you get 4 million in the hole, knowing you can’t pay it back…

@@thegodfatheroftoys3349 Ippei was being paid half a million from LAD. He was also getting paid from Ohtani for managerial services… and Ippei himself was having endorsements and loyalty from Japan too (with his book, etc). $4.5M is a plausible number

And Angels Fan 😂

lol

The jealous ones

That's right. We (the Giants) play the game for the LOVE of the game, NOT the love of money

Bluejays to 😂

Ohtani is the gambler

Well, of course. Gotta protect the Golden calf.

@@CB-or6cboh please. Anybody with parents who don’t speak English knows how easy it is to bypass bank security when you have their personal info and a broken English accent. Ohtani was lied to by the gambling addict Mizuhara, who also lied about his degree and work experience btw, about the 2 500k payments going to pay off a loan. I doubt gambling was even mentioned. Ohtani did it. Mizuhara had access to his accounts and continued to do it himself. Thats why the story changed. Ohtani did not know about gambling. Or 4.5 million going missing. He’s not the first wealthy person to be robbed by close ones.

I thought that was Kenny Rogers? 😉

That’s not at all the truth though

Money is money and more money is better than less

​@kojo0711 more money more problems. Either way, he has to pay taxes. All of that money before taxes. Then when you file your yearly taxes he will of course owe Uncle Sam. We all hate Uncle Sam

Just like Pacquiao

lol as if there are certain areas where people are just naturally more kind...come on man

_'this is why_ fraudsters, tax-evaders, money-launderers, conspirators and unregistered foreign agents Joe "The Big Guy", First Bro, Jim and "Bagman" son, Hunter _have shell companies'_

You don't know the fact.

Hello Mr. Nixon...

Israel would like a word on that comment.

And his publicist.

A half million dollar wire transfer isn't exactly an "online sports bet." It's about tax revenue.

or all 3?

Michael Jordan of Baseball

No way he gambles doesn’t come off as someone that does. Definitely the interpreter

@@jvu714haha you’d be surprised how good people can hide bad habits. (I am also a degenerate gambler)

​@joseperales2381 people that are gamblers tend to be short on cash more often.

They didnt even bet baseball what did they even do wrong

@@jerm1499 It was illegal "under the table" gambling, as for why the story changed from him wiring the money to cover his friend to his friend stole it is because its wire fraud, "using a wire “which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers” is explicitly listed in the U.S. criminal code and can get you up to 2 years in prison

​@jerm1499 That's what needs to be investigated, we don't know that for sure. That was the official statement by Ohtani, but it was such a massive pivot so we can't take team Ohtani's statement at face value

​@@jerm1499how do you know? they can't get their story straight. $4.5M is a lot of money to lose track of, even for millionaires.

@@jerm1499 Lived in CA.

There's no crime in the first story.

@@RajDeelish Making financial transactions with an illegal sportsbook is a crime.

@@RajDeelishgambling in California is illegal unless your at a Indian casino

MLB and professional sports are hypocrites when you are promoting FANTASY sports odds. Money is ruining sports. Even college sports is suffering ruination because of greed. Go watch the innocence of a Little League game.

It's all about the Money and yes is double standard

Media in the New York area is typically far harsher than the rest of the USA -- more of a location, rather than a baseball thing

I see. Thanks for clarifying 👍

More holes than the Mets’ infield D

Superman about to lose his cape.

😆

😂

Japanese relies on trust. Shohei trusted Ippei, so he has expense accounts / personal info. perhaps Ippei didn't thought much about wire transfer w/ Shohei name & thinks he can somehow chase back his bets & when it comes to gambling chasing it never ends well > $4 1/2 mil until he admits to Shohei. Shohei is a big guy w/ a kid mindset playing baseball. I bet my pension check he does not bet sports. question is the Illegal Bookie / fed investigations that lies the problem MLB.

But it should free up a lot of money for next year's free agency.

Ohtani doesn't fit that type of character. The interpreter gave what was probably the honest account. He screwed up gambling himself into debt and Ohtani, being a friend paid off his debts. Ohtani's PR folks are now crafting this story of Ohtani being "robbed" somehow because this ruins his clean image.

@@MichaelWalker-wu2pq Are you friends with him?

@TheMattTrakker no but I have a job where I must carefully judge the characters of the people I come into contact with. Admittedly, I would need more in-person contact with Ohtani because I only have a general public input of him but I've seen so many good people caught up in situations because of their friends getting involved in shaky situations. This seems like that more than Ohtani being the main perp.

@@TheMattTrakkerit seems way more likely that a guy as genuine as Shohei *would* help out his friend rather than be the gambler himself. He probably ignorantly and naively supported his friends’ “hey I need more money” requests over the years. The bookie knew he was good for it, and Ippei stupidly used Shohei’s direct account when it was time to pay up.

Or we just don’t know the facts

Wire fraud is only a federal crime when it crosses a state line. Sounds like this all took place from one CA bank acct to another, so federal wire fraud charges wouldn't be in play. The IRS, however, could investigate.

@@KobeBean5xchampyou said I think twice. lol your words don’t come across as convincing. Know the law, it’s illegal to wire money to an illegal bookie. Nothing complicating about it.

@@KobeBean5xchamplook up Penal Code 337 PC and Title 18 U.S.C. It states if you are participating in wages as a gambler, you are liable as participating in an illegal activity under California law. Key word “as a gambler”, meaning the person sending money to a bookie to place a bet.

Also mls has a rule that you cannot use an illegal bookie. MLS needs to ban him.

@timothybrown5741 he did nothing wrong. He was swindled out if money.

This is my favourite narrative. People know Ohtani, a man they've never heard speak, better than Ohtani knew Ippei. 😅😅😅

​@danweston6109 I know right 😂 and tiger woods was a faithful husband 😆😆 dummies

It’s not about that. It’s an addiction. He’s competitive. Think Michael Jordan.

How do you.know that?

Gamblers aren't obsessed with money. They are obsessed with the adrenaline that gambling brings

Nobody believes that a guy making $60M/yr on endorsements need to gamble on credit

@@RunForPeace-hk1cu You must have missed all the other wealthy celebrities both gambling and doing shady things. He could have been doing it through an illegal bookie for a number of reasons that we don't yet know. Regardless of the outcome or who placed what bets, he was the one who wired money to an illegal bookie from his own account. If you or I did that, we would be royally screwed.

Be suspicious of the quiet types.

@@Landis_Grant Honestly, you never 100% know anybody. Especially to the extent that you think you might. And especially not some random celeb that you don't see the personal lives of. Look at Deshaun Watson's once squeaky-clean image.

why not compare it to jordan instead of oj like jeez its gambling not murder