The Betrayal

Shohei Ohtani, baseball's two-way sensation, faces off not on the diamond, but in the court of law! His former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been slapped with bank fraud charges. The crime? Allegedly funneling over a whopping $16 million from Ohtani's pockets into the murky world of illegal sports betting.

The Heist

It's a plot twist no one saw coming. Mizuhara, who's supposed to translate, not transact, craftily set up a bank account back in 2018—only to later play a high-stakes financial game. From 2021, he reportedly made a jaw-dropping 19,000 bets, winning millions but ultimately losing more. Even when luck smiled on him, the winnings didn't find their way back to Ohtani—instead, they fattened Mizuhara's own wallet.

The Confession

As the investigation unspooled, text messages surfaced showing Mizuhara's admission to the heist. He even pulled the oldest trick in the book: calling the bank, pretending to be Ohtani, and wiring funds under the guise of a car loan. But the facade crumbled when he texted a bookmaker, "Technically I did steal from him. It's all over for me."

The Fallout

MLB's thrown its hat into the ring, with its Department of Investigations taking a swing at uncovering the truth. While they bat zero evidence of Ohtani's involvement in betting, they're not closing the book just yet. Mizuhara's up to bat next in federal court, with a potential 30-year sentence looming over him. Will justice be served?

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Editor: Vitalina Patskan