Folk DO NOT UNDERSTAND illegal bookmakers. Illegal BOOKMAKERS want gamblers to get into debt, even 4.5 million in debt such as Ippei who is close to Shohei. In Debt? gambler is now COMPROMISED! Reason: #1: Ippei has insider knowledge about baseball and can give insider information. #2: Ippei can get desperate and take money from Shohei, i.e. embezzlement.

Dan, Ippei was working as an interpreter for a Japanese baseball team in the Nippon League. The team had a former MLB minor league player on the team This was before Shohei got drafted by the same team a year or two later. So Ippei was already vetted by the team. When Shohei went to play for the Angels, Ippei offered his services to Shohei and it was only natural to hire him as he did not have to do any research on him based on his Japanese team’s prior vetting. The media is also jumping to conclusions regarding the amount of $4.5 million. Ippei never specifically said anything about this amount. What he said was that nine wire payments were made in similar fashion after answering to ESPN’s inquiry about the two wire that allegedly came from Shohei’s account. So the media jumped to the conclusion that 9 x $500,000 = $4.5 million is what came out of Shohei’s account. If that was the case, I.m sure the FBI investigation on Browley would have picked this up as they can easily check into bank lodgers. But only two wires had Shohei’s name on it. And even Shohei’s team including CAA Sports would have checked on this issue. The fact that Shohei did not mention anything about the alleged $4.5 million is that his legal/financial team probably could not verify this (as neither did the FBI) . The fact that Shohei took his parents and his wife to Korea and had them sit together with Ippei’s wife would indicate that he did not know anything about Ippei’s interview with ESPN and that Ippei had never talked to Shohei about this. Just my observation Show less

They were never teenagers together. They’re 10 years apart.

I'm Japanese, but I want Americans to know about this new translator. I feel like he only translates about 80% of what's said. For starters, he uses "obviously" a lot, but Shohei never says "obviously" in Japanese. Also, Shohei didn't use the word "willfully" in Japanese. I think a real professional translator should have done this. Shohei's explanation in Japanese was perfect and left no room for doubt. Shohei's explanation in Japanese clearly and concisely shows that Shohei has nothing to do with gambling and that Ippei was telling a huge lie to everyone around him at the beginning. Another thing that really caught my attention was that Shohei said he spoke using notes. But the interpreter said "document." This is a pretty big difference, and when you listen to Shohei's Japanese, it's clear that it's not written Japanese, but spoken Japanese. What you can tell is that he's not speaking from memory, but rather he focuses on the main points and then speaks in his own words. If you listen to it, a native Japanese person can tell whether someone simply said something prepared or whether they focused on the main points and said it in their own words. It's clear that Shohei didn't speak from memory, and it wasn't an acted speech.

If you thought Ohtani didn’t speak English before, you aint seen nothin yet.

So much faith that our law enforcement authorities will handle this properly, impartially, and then make sure the public knows the full extent of the investigation. 🤣🤣🤣

A friend of mine sent me $8000 by bank transfer gor my school tuition. It failed several times and both of us had to talk to the banks several times. There's NO WAY that multiple transfers were made without Ohtani knowing.

There's nothing that proves Shohei is guilty of anything, he did'nt sign any check to make payments and the wire transfer were done by electronic, which Ippei had access to. People got to understand there's clients employer's and workers that embezzle and steal money from wealthy owner's all the time. Especially when a person is desperate and is in debt from grambling like Ippei, will betray his friendship and steal money (I know my own brother was addicted to gambling and would steal from our parents bank account by forging their signature) Some of the clients and associates that robbed and stole money from athletes and celebrities - Tim Duncan was robbed $20 million dollars, John Elway lost $15 million, Kareem Abul Jabbar lost $9 million, Kevin Garnett lost $78 million, Usain Bolt lost $12 million, Robert DeNiro lost $88 million dollars, Elton John lost $29 million, Billy Joel $90 million ect......All by clients, associates and even close partners.

Everyone asks why would a bookie keep floating Ippei as his debts reach into millions - the bookmaker's attorney already answered that. It's because of Ippei's proximity to Shohei. Because he was Shohei's best friend that Bowyer allowed Ippei's debts reach into millions. If you're invested enough to comment on this issue, you should read articles and get more information from credible and reliable sources. It's unfair that a lot of people (especially in twitter) are already 100% sure that Ohtani is gulity despite the investigation is still ongoing.

Shohei has been a model athlete and person in his time in the public eye. I’m ok with believing him and giving him some grace until it’s absolutely proven otherwise

With wire transfers I believe in some cases you can request funds from an account if the receiver has their banking information but still you would need approval not only from the account holder but from the bank. The bank flags it and calls the authorized names on the account

What a gig the interpreter lost. I would love to have a gig like that.Dugout seats to all the Dodgers games! Man that would be sweet.

C'mon! Ohtani is not going to use his OWN account, with his OWN name on it, to pay off an illegal bookie. He knows everyone watches him, wants to know what he does, etc. His interpreter was more than just his interperter. He had an seperate account, with Ohtani's name and permission to use, for conducting personal purchase, payment of bills, etc. Money went into this account every month, for the course of several years, and Ippei made the debt transactions 9 times, without Ohtani's knowledge. Ohtani's biggest crime was trusting this guy and now he is paying for it with this "guilty until proven innocent" bannana.

I find it odd that the lawyers that are watching the accountants who watch the lawyers that watch the accountants never brought up any of these $500,000 wire transactions when his yearly taxes are due ! This cannot be explained away to the IRS !

If you’re say in Japan you can carry casual conversations but you rely on an interpreter who can represent you when its serious just to avoid misunderstanding. You have to trust that person like a family so you can focus on what you’re doing. You pay them generally and almost always together for 6 years. I can’t imagine the shock and heartbreak Ohtani must be going through. He maybe too slow to find out about Ippei but that’s not a crime. Remember, Ippei lied to everyone. He lied to the media first, then to Ohtani’s rep, both covering up saying Ohtani is aware to protect himself. The next day he realized his stories doesn’t add up and admitted to the media that he lied. People say Ohtani changed the story but he didn’t, it was Ippei all along.

Ohtani has never said Ippei was his best friend. I've spent more time with coworkers in my life than my wife too.

"i've never once worked with an illegal bookie" my poll question is do you believe Seton Yes/NO

Just a maybe off topic thought but Ippei always gave a weird vibe and now more so after seeing this new interpreter. This guy seems very professional and Ippei seemed to comfortable to have a little spotlight. Even if Ohtani was gambling, why would he do it with an illegal bookie? He has the money to bet legally all he wants

In a world where so many love to condemn before all the facts are in, I still believe people are innocent until proven guilty. There is a long list of celebrities who have been robbed by people they handed management of their finances to. I hope Ohtani is another one of them and is innocent of these accusations. Say it ain't so Sho!

The interpreter is the fall guy.Period, end of story.

I'd be more interested in knowing what kind of person the former interpreter had been.

For Shohei to say he never bet on sports and dealt with a bookmaker, that's pretty definitive. You'd think some bookie or office person of a bookmaker out there would leak that wasn't true if he actually did and Ohtani would have to fear that. I don't know why I believe Ohtani. I just don't see a motive to risk your career over.

I believe it was Pablo Neruda who said "I have known my wife for so long I don't know anything about her".

The bottom line is that Ohtani must be the dumbest person alive for using his own name on the transaction NINE TIMES.

People are delusional and nuts to think Shohei was gambling, have everything to lose and risk his entire career. Shohei has no history of gambling, if he did he would not be in a hole racking up a $4 million dollar debt that he cannot pay, he makes over $100million dollars in endorsements alone.

Ohtani is a honorable man who has only baseball on his mind.

What world do people live in to think it’s more likely that Shohei is using Ippei as a fall guy? This is a larger scale version of employee theft around addicts that happens frequently just to a lesser extent. It’s particularly ripe when there’s a lax environment or incompetence and the active addict (typically unknown at the time) has access to money without oversight/incompetent oversight or the addict is the oversight/over-trusted. This all checks the boxes here. Add in the language barrier and that the manipulation around that and that Ippei translates and it’s a perfect storm. The version where Shohei is the addict and Ippei a dolt happens in movies. This would require significant evidence that I don’t see.

All sides will say whatever their legal advisors tell them to. Might as well have the lawyers at the mic.

Why are people assuming that the bookie went through some rigorous vetting process before allowing Ippei credit? You literally see banks give loans to people who would never be able to pay them off.

Several reporters have talked about hearing rumors of this since January. How have they heard about it, but Ohtani doesn't find out until last week? That part doesn't add up for me.

If Ohtani was placing bets or having someone do it for him… my question would be… why the hell are you guys in debt to the bookie lol? He has the ultimate control of a baseball game when he’s pitching.

Didn't Puffy knock this 'scandal' off the front page?

Shohei is only interested in baseball but not in money. When he was in Japan, his parents managed his money, and he didn't know how much he had in his bank account. In the U.S., Ippei was taking care of Shohei like a baby. Ohtani is not interested in money, and that's why he gave up his high income in Japan and went to the States to play baseball at a higher level. Besides, his English is not good enough to understand anything complicated, although he can handle simple daily conversations.

There us no way Ohtani’s and the Dodgers’ attorneys would let Ohtani state categorically in public and report to law enforcement that Ippea stole a large amount of money from him if that claim were not true because if Ohtani’s public proclamations about Ippea are not true, then Ippea would have a massive case against Ohtani and the Dodgers (his actual employer) for slander / defamation, ad well as face legal charges for filing s false criminal complaint against Ippei. Lying about Ippei in such a public way would immediately end Ohtani’s baseball and endorsement careers. If Ohtani either gambled or paid off Ippei’s debts, Ohtani’s attorneys would not let Ohtani engage in a huge civil crime against Ippea to cover up those acts because the consequences of finding out that Ohtani lied about Ippei are very likely worse than if it was revealed that Ohtani gambled with a bookie or paid Ippei’s debts.

Those people who committed against Ohtani should find out his upbringing first and how he dedicate his life to Baseball. I trust Ohtani 100% !

There are too many questions But very answers.

How do you react to a 28 second presser?

Bookie did not give millions of dollars in credits. $4.5m was accumulated over several years. Multiple payments sent means Ippei had to settle debts before getting more credit to bid. If Ippei was given access to his banking info or poa , it’s easy for him to wire . No one in right mind who want to send money to illegal bookie to gamble, is going to wire from his own account . Also in a press conference he said in japanese, his atty reported to the police. His new interpreter only said ‘authorities’. No one in his stature will report incorrect into to the police to get himself in legal trouble

Great point about Manti. Stranger things have happened. We have to keep an open mind on both sides.

As an attorney, you would never want your MLB player-client to deal directly with a Bookmaker. If the interpreter needed a loan or a bailout, an escrow account would be set up. Then , the funds could be disbursed by him directly for whatever purpose. This scenario told raises appearance of impropriety

My first question is why the hell can’t Ohtani speak English when his long time best friend speaks it fluently??

A question that I have is WHY would his interpreter have any access to Ohtani’s bank accounts?? Also I don’t care about MLB’s investigation. I want to know the results of the Federal investigation.

To lose $4 million gambling, you have bet many more times that. You're going to win at least 25-30% of the time. I doubt a translator has enough bank to gamble $10's of million.

If "stealing" more than $1,000 is considered a felony...why have none of us heard about an arrest being made of his interpreter being made to the tune of 4.5 million dollars being "stolen"? Maybe because there was no theft in the first place, knew his interpreter would take being the scapegoat, or maybe this is the most generous and forgiving baseball player in the world.

Personally thought that the first story Ippei gave to ESPN was the entire truth. Shohei agreed to pay his debts by wiring money from his account. Many of us are suspicious how Ippei could have had access to all that money but when it was revealed that he'd previously lied to Shohei's agents, then this thought crossed my mind. That addicted gamblers lie and covers up their lies with another lie. It's like paying your debts with even larger debts. The word is out in Japan that interpreters for Japanese baseball players in the past have had full access to the players' accounts since most of them couldn't understand anything detailed in English. MLB players have to pay taxes in each state they play in, right? So every time Shohei visited the Bronx Bombers in NY, Ippei would wire money from his accounts while Shohei slept for 12 hours to recover. Shohei was making $30Mil in his last year with the Angels, so that's totally understandable. Since the two had been partners for 12 years, I guess they trusted each other.

Ohtani seems honorable, honest, and forth coming. I've been wrong before 😊

There's no way to know the whole truth yet.

good friends know what is going on. He has all the money in the WORLD. He freaking knows and let it happen.

I do money transfers and it is a tight system. (Obviously not on this scale). We need to know who was at the computer and authorized these transfers. BTW, cell phone records will establish who was where with each transaction date and time stamped. What if Ohtani were away according to “pings” on his phone.. plus, did Ohtani ever meet personally the Bookmaker ?? Where? When? For what purpose?

HBo's "Bookie" should have a field day next season.

“If it doesn’t Make sense, it is not true.” -Judge Judy- This doesn’t make sense…

Question nobody seems to be asking: When ESPN contacted Ohtani's spokesperson's regarding the wire transfer documents, why didn't Ohtani's spokesperson contact Ohtani? Contact Ohtani's attorneys? Why did Ohtani's own spokesperson arrange for Ippei to give an interview? Another question: Why is everyone assuming that nobody in Ohtani's camp, none of his attorneys, nobody with any of his banks, nobody except for Ippei apparently speaks Japanese? All good investigations start at the beginning. Everyone keeps wanting to just jump to the end. Will anyone with resources actually conduct a thorough investigation into this? When will Ippei be charged for his crimes?

If true, the FBI needs to be called in?

It is really irrelevant whether or not Ohtani placed the bets himself. The fact that the "bookie" can reach that far into an athlete's reputation to get their payment, really tells you that gambling will soon own all the athletes. All the professional leagues will need to learn quickly how to counter this gaming influence, otherwise all of sports will get consumed.

Congress needs to get involved to throw the smoke screen on the financial crisis that awaits us. (see: steroid hearings and 2008 housing crisis that followed for more information)

watch pitchingninja's take on Eppei's gambling Scandal. it gives more perspective

good point Dan Patrick, what kind of a bookie lets someone with a yearly income of 100,00 dollars a year run up millions in gambling debt.

I feel so bad for Shohei. Ippei should come out and explain in front of the media what happened.

the point about the bookie is exactly correct. No bookie will grant millions of dollars of debt to someone who doesn't have obvious means to pay. At minimum Ohtani's name and/or money was used to back the debts. Two things about this don't make any sense. 1. A bookie would not continue to take bets from someone millions of dollars in debt that had no way of ever paying them back. Interpreter making 300,000 a year would not be allowed to accrue even one million dollars debt, much less 4.5 million. 2. Why did the story change 24 hours later? After initially saying the money was sent to pay Ippei's gambling debt, the next day Ohtani claimed massive theft. The only thing that makes sense is he was coached up on how horrible gambling is to baseball, and had to make the interpreter the fall guy or his career is over. Baseball needs to do a thorough investigation, get the FBI involved

If this hadn't been caught, how far do you think it could have gone?

What account did winnings go to?

The number one thing I learned from addiction medicine is that you live a double life. Your public face. And the shadow that is constantly looking for a fix.

Mr. Mizuhara, who is embroiled not only in gambling but also in suspicions of resume fraud, has faced increasing scrutiny. The same media outlet stated, "He was widely reported to have attended universities in the United States and worked for two MLB teams, but significant discrepancies have emerged in his background. Since this scandal broke, Mizuhara's situation appears to worsen with each passing day."

This guy looks young and old at the same time it’s crazy.

Look, if he didn’t take a dive on bets he made on baseball, I don’t care. And no one should ether

False criminal accusation of theft could lead to a charge of public mischief for shohei who could face jail time

There's no way his accountant just sat by and let 4.5m get blown by the interpreter lol. There's no way he didn't hire an accountant when he signed with the Angels 6 years ago. Even if he had access to the account you believe the bank/accountant would just say nothing?

They were okay while the first story but something happened after that.

Dan sounds very naive

he's the most talked about dude in baseball, the worst I see coming out of this is a fine. MLB aren't doing themselves any favors by banning him.

Lol, so the interpreter told the entire team in english he stole before he even told Shohei. 😂😂😂😂

Must be wire fraud on the intrepreters part if Shohei did'nt send it.

No. I don't believe his story. Anyone who does simply lacks discernment on a grand scale.

😂 Ohtani is not going to be penalized in any way. Ippei is truly a great friend for taking the fall on this.

The LA Dodgy's. The press conference did not pass the bullshit test.

I hope the Dodgers can cancel his contract to avoid paying him $700m.

Riches gets special banking service that regular people don’t get. One time transaction amount up to 500k so that adds up what Mizuhara confessed. He had access to a misc. expense and who knows what Mizu told Ohtani what those charges were for.

The interpreter is taking the hit and will be rewarded down the road.

Why would ippe lie about Ohtani knowing or not???

As little content, as there may have been, there was more factual coverage than any other coverage I’ve seen on this issue in this video.

This is all BS! You need the power of Attorney to pull this theft off. The fix is in.

should have the same punishment as Pete Rose, if not you will need to reinstate and compensate Rose.

People keep saying the story "has changed". Well yeah, Mizuhara's story changed. At least so far, Ohtani's story hasn't changed, it's been consistent from the moment he found out about what was going on. Is it possible he's lying? Sure. But you can't use the "story has changed" argument against Ohtani because he had nothing (that we know of) to do with that.

Sports and Gambling go together like peanut butter & jelly, more money more problems.

Seton was the high school kid whose parents covered the gambling debt lol

Ippei lied and thus is a liar. But he isn’t the only one. Either vast conspiracy of banks, accountants and lawyers defrauded Shohei, or he is lying too.

they talking about bookies like some bad 80s movie , the "i knew a kid" who needed 2nd mortgage to cover his gambling losses at illegal bookie is rich

What was he doing at the ncaa tournament in 2019....

Shenanigans!

Give me a break… everyone knows Ohtani is a just a baseball nerd. He’s the last player I’d expect of gambling.

And where is the interpreter now?

Why would he have to add that he never had a bookmaker to place sports bets, when he first says he never bet on any sports anyway? Why add the bookmaker as a 2nd part of the statement? Liars always throw out more details than necessary. I could be wrong, but I don't believe this story one bit.

so, would you rather see ohtani as an effing fool or a lying loser of a gambler? he is one or the other, and you gotta believe the mlb ain't gunna give us the truth here.

1:48 Why would a bookie give the translator that much credit?? Maybe cause he's an incompetent bookie and if he made smarter bookie decisions, he wouldn't be under federal investigation?

I don't believe for a second Shohei is innocent in all this

Ohtani knows until he doesn’t know about the gambling. He supports his interpreter until he doesn’t support his interpreter. He knows about the 4.5 million transfer until he doesn’t know about the transfer. These shenanigans make Pete Rose look like a minor leaguer.

Not sure what interpreters make, but it must be a lot bc that’s one hell of a line of credit. Hmmmmm

The truth only prevails and Ohtani claims so

He’s the mlb golden boy. If it was anyone else, he would’ve already been tarred and feathered: Trevor Bauer was crucified 2 seconds after false accusations were presented

I think going forward either the bookie will be found dead mysteriously, or Ippei will be found dead by "suicide", or, both, and everyone goes on living his merry little lives.