Major League Baseball is going to investigate the case of Shohei Ohtani's interpreter
Shohei Ohtani is a well-known Japanese baseball pitch player. His interpreter - Ippei Mizuhara, is allegedely involved in gamblinf scandal involiving an illegal bookmaker.
3:01 PM EDT, March 23, 2024
Gambling allegations of Ippei Mizuhara
The Los Angeles Dodgers player's Ippei Mizuhara is allegedly involved in the gambling scandal involving illegal bookings and bets. What is more it is possible he was also involved in the theft issues.
Mizuhara was already removed from the Los Angeles Dodgers team amid the allegations and Major League Baseball statements who say that were 'gathering infromation' about the case and now are going to officialy start an investigation.
Complicated gambling law in the United States
It is important to note, that the gambling regulations are quite complicated in the United States. While gambling is legal in the most of the States it is still outalawed in California. The issue is, Shohei Ohtani is playing for the Los Angeles team which means that the California legislation is applying to the case of his interpreter.
What is also worth noting is that Major League Baseball players and staff are allowed to do gambling on other sports than baseball, but, what is crucial, cannot gamble with the illegal bookmakers which allegedely seems to be the case in the situation of Mizuhara.
One also needs to stress that there is no suggestion that Shohei Ohtani has ever gambled himself, and the allegations concern purely his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
The Guardian reports on the legal situation taking place right now:
The IRS confirmed on Thursday that Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles field office. An IRS criminal investigation spokesperson, Scott Villiard, said he could not provide additional details.
To read the full article by the Guardian go to: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/22/shohei-ohtani-interpreter-gambling-mlb-investigation
The scandal was first reported by the journalist of ESPN and Los Angeles Times this Wednesday.
Sources: NBC News; The Guardian
