Ippei Mizuhara’s alleged theft of funds from Shohei Ohtani may have been even bigger than we thought.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that prosecutors have uncovered evidence that Mizuhara, Ohtani’s former interpreter, may have stolen even more money from Ohtani than the $4.5M he was initially accused of embezzling. Additionally, authorities reportedly believe they have evidence that Mizuhara managed to change the settings on Ohtani’s bank account so that Ohtani would not be able to receive alerts about the transactions.
The New York Times report adds that Mizuhara now faces federal charges over the alleged theft and is in negotiations to plead guilty to those charges. You can read the complete report here.
Word emerged earlier in the day that the federal investigation had found no wrongdoing on the part of Ohtani. The two-time AL MVP was said to have had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s actions nor any involvement in gambling himself (full details).
Ever since the scandal broke, many have been questioning just how much Mizuhara was making and how he was able to rack up such a huge gambling debt. The federal investigation (or at least the current public details thereof) might not have answered all of those questions, but it is revealing that the magnitude of the alleged theft may have been even greater than expected.
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