Ohtani interpreter audio captures claim before Mizuhara’s reversal
ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast airs Mizuhara’s first account, his reversal, and federal findings that Ohtani was a theft victim.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
New Ohtani interpreter audio has put Ippei Mizuhara’s first version of the gambling scandal back under the microscope, after ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts featured a 90-minute interview in which he initially claimed Shohei Ohtani agreed to pay his gambling debts.
According to ESPN, Mizuhara told investigative reporter Tisha Thompson that the Los Angeles Dodgers star helped him settle money owed to an illegal bookmaker. Federal authorities later said that interview “created an international incident,” ESPN reported.
Mizuhara, who once described his relationship with Ohtani as being “like brothers,” changed that account within 24 hours. The Dodgers fired him, Ohtani’s lawyers said the player had been the victim of “massive theft,” and Mizuhara later admitted he had lied in the earlier interview, according to ESPN.
What did the Ohtani interpreter audio say?
In the first interview featured by 30 for 30 Podcasts, Mizuhara said he had asked Ohtani to pay off his debt and that Ohtani took time to consider it. Mizuhara also said Ohtani did not hand him the money directly because, in Mizuhara’s telling, Ohtani wanted to be sure it went toward the debt rather than more betting.
ESPN reported that Mizuhara described meeting the bookmaker at a poker game, beginning to place bets, falling further behind and eventually asking Ohtani for help. That version did not last.
After the Dodgers dismissed Mizuhara and Ohtani’s attorneys publicly described the matter as theft, Mizuhara gave ESPN a second interview and took back much of what he had said. He acknowledged that his original account was false, according to ESPN.
What happened to Ippei Mizuhara?
Mizuhara later pleaded guilty in federal court to bank fraud and filing a false tax return, ESPN reported. He admitted stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani and is serving a 57-month prison sentence.
At Mizuhara’s February 2025 sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Mitchell said the initial ESPN interview had left some people unwilling to accept the government’s conclusion that Ohtani was a victim.
Mitchell said that, despite repeated statements from the government that there was no evidence Ohtani was involved in gambling, some people still refused to believe it, according to ESPN.
What else is in the podcast?
The six-episode series, “The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani,” also revisits Mizuhara’s earlier life and the investigation that followed the scandal.
- ESPN said Mizuhara’s childhood friends discussed his high school years, including one friend’s recollection that he first loved the Dodgers because of Hideo Nomo, then switched his loyalty to the Seattle Mariners after Ichiro Suzuki arrived in MLB.
- The bookmaker recalled seeing a wire transfer tied to Ohtani’s name and described it as a startling moment, according to the podcast.
- A federal agent who worked on the investigation described texts between Ohtani and Mizuhara as “vanilla” and said he saw no betting references between them, ESPN reported.
The podcast series is part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.