Former Shohei Ohtani performer Ippei Mizuhara pleads guilty to bank fraud in stealing $17 million from Dodgers star

Former Shohei Ohtani singer Ippei Mizuhara has chosen to plead guilty to bank fraud after allegedly stealing $17 million from the baseball star, the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

The bank fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Mizuhara will also plead guilty to one count of subscribing to a false tax return, which carries a sentence of up to three years.

He is expected to plead guilty “in the coming weeks,” with his arraignment scheduled for May 14.

The scandal surrounding Mizuhara shocked baseball fans from the United States to Japan when the news broke in March. Mizuhara exploited his personal and professional relationship with Ohtani to loot millions of dollars from the two-way player’s account for years, sometimes posing as Ohtani to bankers, prosecutors said.

Mizuhara’s winning bets totaled more than $142 million, which he deposited into his own bank account and not Ohtani’s. But his losing bets totaled about $183 million, a net loss of nearly $41 million. He didn’t bet on baseball.

Ippei Mizuhara (left) has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges for illegally transferring $17 million from Shohei Ohtani’s bank account without the player’s knowledge or permission.

Mizuhara faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. He was released on $25,000 bail.

Mizuhara helped Ohtani open a bank account in 2018 and began stealing money from that account in 2021, according to the plea agreement. At one point, Mizuhara charged for the security protocols, email, and phone number associated with it so that calls would go directly to him, not Ohtani, when the back end was trying to verify wire transfers .

There is no evidence Ohtani was involved in or aware of Mizuhara’s gambling, and the gambler is cooperating with investigators, authorities said.

After the lawsuits were announced in late March, the Dodgers fired the interpreter, while MLB opened its own investigation.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from betting on baseball, even legally. MLB also prohibits betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

Ohtani remained focused on the field while Mizuhara’s case continued, as he homered in his 17th MLB run against the Padres last month, tying Hideki Matsui for most HRs by a Japanese-born player.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he had no comment on Wednesday’s plea deal, adding: “I just hope this brings some closure to the situation.”

Mizuhara was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond, colloquially known as a signature bond, meaning he did not have to provide any money or collateral to be released.

If he violates the conditions of bail – which include a requirement to undergo treatment for gambling addiction – he will have to pay $25,000.

Ohtani has sought to focus on the field as the case moves through the courts. Hours after his former interpreter’s first court appearance in April, he hit his 175th MLB home run, tying Hideki Matsui for the most by a Japanese-born player, in the Dodgers’ 8-7 loss against the San Diego Padres in 11 innings.