8 thoughts on “Breaking News”

  3. More details emerge about Mizuhara’s theft. From Kevin Drum, quoting New York magazine:

    According to U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, Mizuhara got ahold of Ohtani’s bank account to feed his “insatiable appetite for illegal sports gambling.” He then blocked Ohtani’s agent, financial adviser, and accountant from being able to access the account of the baseball phenom, who is known for paying less attention to his finances than your average multimillionaire. Bank records in the filing show that Mizuhara also changed the phone number and email on Ohtani’s account so Mizuhara could access the funds. And the Feds claim to have a recording of Mizuhara calling the bank pretending to be Ohtani to release more money to pay off his debts.

    With Mizuhara allegedly in control of Ohtani’s finances, the indictment states that Mizuhara placed a staggering amount of bets with the player’s money. Between December 2021 and January 2024, prosecutors allege that he placed around 19,000 bets, winning over $142 million and losing around $183 million — for a total loss of around $41 million.

    I don’t know about you, but if I’d been any one of those men or women representing Ohtani I’d surely have noticed if my access to stuff I usually could get to was blocked. Sheesh.

  4. Wow. Not the original $4.5 million as thought, but

    Federal prosecutors have charged Ippei Mizuhara, the since-fired interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, with stealing more than $16 million from the Dodgers superstar to pay debts with an allegedly illegal bookmaker.

    More from the LA Times:

    He said that Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani in conversations with bank officials, placed thousands of wagers and deposited winnings in a bank account the interpreter controlled.