Shohei Ohtani’s longtime Japanese-langauge interpreter has been charged with stealing more than $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star to pay off his personal gambling debts, the Department of Justice announced in a release on Thursday.
Ippei Mizuhara, 39, was charged with bank fraud by federal authorities in the Central District of California. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Mizuhara is expected in court on Friday after agreeing to self-surrender to federal authorities, prosecutors said in a separate advisory Thursday afternoon. He will not be asked to enter a plea during the hearing, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said, and it’s likely he will be released on bond.
