As I mentioned a couple posts upthread… why would his lawyers, worried that the original story/truth would implicate him in a crime, have him change his story to a lie? The lie becomes another, likely more serious, crime if/when it is exposed.
Shohei Ohtani’s attorneys accuse interpreter of ‘massive theft’ tied to alleged gambling
- Thread starter soxhop411
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You can lie to the press all you want. You just have to not lie to investigators and judges.
Nor is a false statement to Manfred. And I’m not sure how much the feds care; my understanding is that gambling prosecutions generally don’t target people who only placed bets.
This seems like simple information that should be readily available but I can’t find it. Is Mizuhara in custody?
I think he's MIA, last seen in Korea. At least I'm pretty sure I read that here yesterday, not sure if he's surfaced since then.
I understood it was "people in his camp" who produced the interpreter for the interview and verified his nonsense story, then when Ohtani's lawyers heard what they were up to they were like oh hell to the no.
But they would have to know a major news outlet reporting this false statement would quickly lead to more questions than it answered.
I heard that too but like, how does a guy who the Dodgers think stole millions from their star get away? Didn't they say he confessed to bilking Ohtani of millions to the Dodgers?? They have their own security right, how did security not then bring in the authorities?
Sometimes the thinking stops at: what we're doing means we won't get caught.
And here, one of the possibilities is Mizuhara placed bets for Ohtani, and Ohtani never paid the bookie directly, but made loans that weren't paid back to some random guy in NJ or GA or whatever. Distancing accomplished.
The Dodgers do not have a police force. They are not responsible for tracking the movements of random associates of their players.
Mizuhara was a Dodgers employee. He wasn’t some random associate. I don’t know if being abroad impacted how they operated but he was their employee until they fired him.
I’m not sure how this would work logistically. He may have defrauded Ohtani giving rise to potential criminal and civil liability, but how does that give the team the right (or obligation) to track and physically detain him or point law enforcement in his direction? And is there even a warrant out for his arrest?
The only things the Dodgers can/should really do is fire Mizuhara (done), restrict him from entering team premises (presumably occurring), and cooperate with any criminal investigation (also presumably occurring).
I wasn’t the one the suggest they should detain him, especially in a foreign country without any jurisdiction. Was just pushing back on calling Mizuhara a “random associate”, which he wasn’t. He was their employee and that carries a certain level of responsibility with it as an employer.
Once they severed ties, I think they handled it appropriately, especially given the lack of clarity. They may have a little more information but are problem just as confused as the rest of us.
No I understand that but they generally have a security office of some sort, no?
I know - I should’ve been clear that wasn’t directed at you even though I quoted your post. My fault.
To be honest I forgot they were in Korea, but if they had been in the states would it not be a thing for the Dodgers to ask Ohtani if he wanted to press charges and if he did, call the police? If Ippei made a beeline for the door I'm not saying tackle him but like, the guy confessed to anyone who'd listen he stole millions of dollars, wouldn't notifying authorities be a normal thing to do?
They do have security people and one of them probably drove him to the airport.
nvm, handled upthread
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Ohtani's camp said they had contacted the authorities. They weren't very clear which authorities, but if I'm the Dodgers, I'm going to assume his team of attorneys knows who to call based on the facts their client has divulged to them.
Also, if I'm the Dodgers, there's no way I'm going to get entangled in this by attempting to steer anything in any way. Ohtani's interests and the Dodgers' interests aren't exactly adverse, and we should remember that Ohtani brought Mizuhara along with him and the theft apparently pre-dated Ohtani's time with the Dodgers (maybe). Even so, I wouldn't recommend that the Dodgers question Ohtani to try to figure out the best way of going after Mizuhara. Because what might they learn? What responsibilities do they then have? This is something for them to be generically and blandly supportive on, but not actually get involved in.
I'm keeping an open mind and interested how it works out. I don't find it incredible at all that Ohtani would give someone access to his online accounts -- I assume that Japanese translations of U.S. bank webpages aren't ideal for non-native speakers.
That said, at the end of the day, Ohtani's money ended up in the hands of an illegal bookie. To the extent I'd be willing to accept that was not what it seems, the complication here is ESPN stating that Ohtani's spokespeople let the interpreter give an interview where he claimed Ohtani paid his debt.
I'm kind of back where I started from -- that fact needs to be explained better. Why did your people get it so wrong and allow the guy to tell a 90 minute story on ESPN that you now say is false?
That said, at the end of the day, Ohtani's money ended up in the hands of an illegal bookie. To the extent I'd be willing to accept that was not what it seems, the complication here is ESPN stating that Ohtani's spokespeople let the interpreter give an interview where he claimed Ohtani paid his debt.
I'm kind of back where I started from -- that fact needs to be explained better. Why did your people get it so wrong and allow the guy to tell a 90 minute story on ESPN that you now say is false?
Per all of the security, detaining and how could they let him get away talk... Do we even know the timeline of the firing? Do we even know if Mizuhara was fired in person at the ballpark? He may have been gone when the decision was made and told via phone call that his services were no longer required.
My point is that I’d find it odd that Ohtahni’s lawyers would have him lie about something that seems rather unlikely to be prosecuted (paying a friend’s gambling debt) in a way that invites more scrutiny and could possibly lead to a more serious crime (lying to federal investigators).
I have zero clue what the truth is here, and honestly I’m not rooting for any particular outcome. If Ohtani never plays ball again it doesn’t impact my life any.
I don't think there are many who don't recognize that as a very possible scenario. I also understand not wanting it to be the case. It's not really what I'm hoping for...
Yes that is true. I guess I'm thinking too passionately because this story just really bums me out-either a too-trusting guy was majorly ripped off by someone he thought was one of his closest friends/allies in the foreign land he works in, or this poor interpreter actually was such a close friend/ally that he agreed to take the fall and now has had to go in hiding.
Yeah, but what if I told you a lot of attorneys are reckless morons who think that the solution to everything is to fight to the max? I am wondering what advice he's getting. It's a wire transfer! A first year law student could figure out how to prove the facts.
The feds will start caring if they get lied to, which is why lying is a really dumb move rather than admitting to paying off a debt or gambling. And making a false statement about "massive thefts" to Manfred may not get you in jail, but it may get you suspended without pay for a meaningful time.
I think it would be odd at this point to have a completely different story for investigators than he's had for the press. He was extremely pointed in his accusation yesterday.
Ohtani’s enemy here is MLB, not the feds. If he bet on baseball he’s finished. If he bet on baseball he should be going All-In on the defensive. If he doesn’t deny and then it is found out that this account was betting on baseball he’s done. Every action he’s taking now would be the exact action taken if he had bet on baseball.
This is pretty overheated. Why would any player bet on baseball? It's literally the one thing everyone knows not to do. The degrees of stupidity are incalculable for Ohtani, who by all accounts is a baseball lifer and not a particularly stupid person. Is it possible he has such an incurable gambling addiction that he bet on baseball? Only in the most theoretical sense, and not in the sense that there is any evidence to this effect.
Every action he's taking now also looks a lot like a guy who got into a complicated relationship with a guy who has a huge gambling problem.
Who says he doesn't? This is probably just "walking around" money he keeps in his account
As an employee of the LAD, I assume Mizuhara was staying at the team hotel at least up until he was fired. Maybe the Dodgers haven't made themselves available for any questions, but I'm surprised no reporter wouldn't have asked them "Did Mizuhara check out of the team hotel?"
If the theft is true, shouldn't the Dodgers have contacted the authorities in South Korea to make sure he doesn't fly somewhere?
If the theft is true, shouldn't the Dodgers have contacted the authorities in South Korea to make sure he doesn't fly somewhere?
Went to my mailbox this afternoon, and mixed in with various bills and solicitations was the MLB Preview issue of Sports Illustrated (I know, I know).
Not shocked that Ohtani is on the cover 'pre-scandal', but the text next to his image is...interesting.
Not shocked that Ohtani is on the cover 'pre-scandal', but the text next to his image is...interesting.
If I had to guess, I don't think the Dodgers have any sort of say in the matter. Maybe if the US Government got involved and said they wanted Ippei extradited, but it might be too late for that to matter.
MUFG Bank, one of his main sponsors here, pulled an ad campaign over the weekend in which Ohtani was to promote...opening online bank accounts.
I went through this earlier in this thread, but I don't think $4.5M in cash is insignificant to Ohtani, especially in Oct/Nov last year, when the transfers were sent.
Between baseball (~$40M in MLB salaries) and endorsements he may have made $100M in his career thru 2023. At his income level in CA, half of it is going to fed/state taxes, and Japan tax levels are typically higher than US ones. He's paid an agent, has a team of advisors that likely draw some salaries, and likely has bought real estate and potentially made other illiquid investments.
Given all that, he probably has (had?) no more than $30-40M in cash on hand, so $4.5M would be well over 10% of his liquid assets at the time. It's enough to be meaningful.
This is a very rough estimate, especially with complete guesswork on the endorsements, but not sure what other major sources of income he would have had.
Take this with a HUGE grain of salt as it's some random person on Twitter that's the source...
https://www.totalprosports.com/mlb/social-media-uncovers-evidence-exposing-shohei-ohtani-for-throwing-games-as-part-of-betting-scandal/
https://www.totalprosports.com/mlb/social-media-uncovers-evidence-exposing-shohei-ohtani-for-throwing-games-as-part-of-betting-scandal/
Just kind of hilarious timing. In fact it was for opening online accounts *and* making online bank transfers via their new app.
Story in Japanese for those who can read it:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1bbb02d8d9ec097517234d864f66c4eed2a3d8cf
I was pleasantly surprised over the weekend to NOT find this mentioned in the thread. It was so preposterous and so quickly called out as probable nonsense that I thought maybe someone posted it and Dopes deleted it before it went anywhere.
If you'd like me to go into all the reasons why it's absurd I will but it's better I think to just delete or ignore it, and move on.
Yeah....I was laughing when I saw it......no one wants dirty hands....especially here with all the political money scandals going on.
When you know that checks for fucktillions of dollars start next year, 10% of your liquidity right now to cover your friend's debt/give friend a loaded account to play with seems like less of a big deal.
Literally even the minor league field crews aren't allowed to gamble on baseball or even play fantasy baseball for money, because of how much they interact with the players and coaches.
I really hope Ohtani isn't guilty of it.
This whole thing is just weirder than weird, though.
Potentially so, although he intentionally deferred his income (probably mostly as a mutual tax avoidance strategy with the Dodgers - CA state tax for Ohtani, MLB CBP tax for the Dodgers), so the fucktillion will have to come from endorsements for now.
I think the your second sentence is part of the answer. I don't know anything about Ohtani's personality but forbidden fruit, open any door but this one, and all that.