Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has requested a hearing from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in order to obtain ownership of $325,000 worth of sports cards purchased by his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, per Noah Furtado and Evan Drellich of The Athletic.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California previously relayed in an April 11 statement that the 39-year-old Mizuhara previously stole over $16 million from Ohtani to cover gambling debts to an illegal California-based bookmaker. A portion of that money was used to purchased roughly 1,000 baseball cards on eBay and Whatnot.
“Mizuhara allegedly also telephoned the bank and falsely identified himself as Ohtani to trick bank employees into authorizing wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account to associates of the illegal gambling operation.
“From January 2024 to March 2024, he also allegedly used this same account to purchase via eBay and Whatnot approximately 1,000 baseball cards – at a cost of approximately $325,000 – and had them mailed to Mizuhara under an alias, ‘Jay Min,’ and mailed to the clubhouse for Ohtani’s current MLB team.”
As The Athletic notes, “Ohtani wants those items back, arguing they were bought with his money.”
Dylan Manfre of Sportico also provided more information on the cards in April 2024.
“An affidavit filed by IRS special agent Chris Seymour on Mizuhara revealed the cards were stashed in various briefcases and boxes in a vehicle used by Mizuhara,” Manfre wrote. “They included cards of Yogi Berra, Juan Soto and Ohtani himself.”
Furtado and Drellich also wrote that “Ohtani also wants ‘a quantity of personally signed collectible baseball cards’ with his image were wrongly in Mizuhara’s possession when they were seized, and he seeks their return as well.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California previously stated that Mizuhara wired over $16 million in unauthorized transfers from Ohtani’s checking account from November 2021 to January 2024.
Mizuhara even went so far as to steal from Ohtani to pay for medical expenses, as relayed by Stefanie Dazio and Amy Taxin of the Associated Press.
“In fact, after we announced the charges, we only discovered more fraud in this case,” Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California said, per the AP.
“We discovered Mr. Mizuhara had victimized Mr. Ohtani to the extent that he wouldn’t even pay for dental. He stole money from Mr. Ohtani to pay for his own dental expenses.”
Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Ohtani denied authorizing those transfers, and authorities said there was zero evidence suggesting Ohtani either knew or was involved in Mizuhara’s “illegal gambling activity or payment of those debts.”
On the diamond, Ohtani just led the Dodgers to their eighth World Series championship after posting the first-ever 50-50 season in MLB history (54 home runs, 59 stolen bases). The 30-year-old also won his third MVP award.
Read the full article here
