I admit that I am worried. Allegedly, Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime friend and interpreter for Ohtani, incurred some gambling debts and allegedly wired transferred $4.5 Million dollars out of Shohei Ohtani’s bank accounts with his knowledge or was it without his knowledge? Are we to believe that a player with Ohtani’s discipline just has no idea about his money? Can $100,000.00 disappear without someone missing it? How about $4.5 Million?
ESPN reported this:
Initially, a spokesman for Ohtani told ESPN the slugger had transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debt. The spokesman presented Mizuhara to ESPN for a 90-minute interview Tuesday night, during which Mizuhara laid out his account in great detail. However, as ESPN prepared to publish the story Wednesday, the spokesman disavowed Mizuhara’s account and said Ohtani’s lawyers would issue a statement.
“In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,” read the statement from Berk Brettler LLP.
The spokesman declined to answer any further questions, and the statement did not specify whom they believe perpetrated the alleged theft.
I have no opinion either way, but this seems crazy… We shall wait and see. Walker Buehler said that Ippei Mizuhara are like brothers. There is a lot we don’t know and maybe the Dodgers should sign JD Martinez as insurance?
Getty Images – Photo Credit