The story involving Shohei Ohtani, his now-former interpreter and an alleged “massive theft” of the baseball superstar took another bizarre turn on Thursday as the sport continues to try and unravel what happened.
New details emerged of how Ohtani discovered that Ippei Mizuhara allegedly stole millions of dollars from him to cover gambling debt.
ESPN’s Tisha Thompson said during an appearance on “First Take” that a Dodgers official told the outlet that Ohtani only seemed to become aware of the alleged theft during a meeting in the locker room after the team’s season-opening win on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea.
“Mizuhara gets up and, based on what I’ve been told, says something to the effect of, ‘I’m sorry, I apologize, I have a gambling problem,’” Thompson explained.
“Another player says, ‘So what?’ That is when the president of the Dodgers says, ‘Well, Ohtani paid off the debts’ — again I’m paraphrasing here cause I was not in the meeting.
That’s when it apparently clicked for Ohtani that something was not right.
“Ohtani is not fluent in english. Everyone says that, but he has enough understanding of English according to the sources we talked to yesterday to start to say, ‘What?’” Thompson continued.
“And he goes after the meetings over and starts to ask questions. They get a different interpreter and through that different interpreter — this is what these sources close to Ohtani who were privy to what happened told ESPN — that’s when he found out about the money missing in his account.”
Ohtani’s lawyers said in a statement Wednesday that slugger had “been the victim of a massive theft” after his name had come up in connection with an investigation into alleged illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer.
“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,” the West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler told The Post, on behalf of Ohtani, in a statement that did not specify who was the perpetrator of the theft.
What to know about Shohei Ohtani's accusations against his former interpreter
Lawyers representing Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani have accused his now-former interpreter and longtime friend Ippei Mizuhara of “massive theft” in a $4.5 million bombshell.
Mizuhara, who followed the two-time AL MVP from the Angels after he signed a 10-year, $700 million deal this offseason, reportedly accrued massive gambling debts he needed to pay off.
Mizuhara first told ESPN Ohtani offered to pay off the debt and later changed his story, insisting the Japanese star was unaware of the eight-nine wire transfers made from his accounts to an alleged illegal bookmaker.
Ohtani’s camp has “disavowed” Mizuhara’s initial story, per ESPN.
He was fired shortly after the Dodgers’ season opener against the Padres in Seoul, South Korea, and Ohtani has yet to publicly address the situation, though his camp is pushing for a law enforcement investigation amid an IRS probe.
“I never bet on baseball,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “That’s 100%. I knew that rule. … We have a meeting about that in spring training.”
All sides claim Ohtani has no involvement in any gambling.
Mizuhara, is alleged to have stolen “millions of dollars” to pay off gambling debts, the Los Angeles Times first reported Wednesday.
The situation became stranger after ESPN reported that Mizuhara claimed in a 90-minute interview with the outlet on Tuesday that Ohtani was aware of the debts and had agreed to help pay them off.
Mizuhara and Ohtani’s lawyers then claimed on Wednesday that Ohtani did not have any information on the gambling nor the repayment of the debts.
Ohtani did not speak with reporters on Thursday after the Dodgers’ second game against the Padres in Seoul.