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A new audio has been released revealing Ippei Mizuhara impersonating LA Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. The former interpreter for the baseball player was fired back in March 2024 after being found allegedly defrauding the 30-year-old pitcher. Federal prosecutors released a four-minute audio recording showing Ippei impersonating Shohei in a call to a bank to push through a wire transfer. Keep reading to find out more… The audio was mentioned in a court filing where the prosecutors recommended a five-year sentence and restitution, per The Athletic. U.S. attorney Jeff Mitchell says the audio was obtained from a bank and filed to backup the prosecutors claims that Ippei had repeatedly called the bank for wire transfers, and reportedly even had routed Shohei‘s account info to his own phone and email. In the audio recording, the bank agent asks who they’re speaking to, to which Ippei says, “Shohei Ohtani.” The agent then goes through a two-factor authentication, asking Ippei to recited a six digit number sent by text message, before asking about details of the transaction. “Now recently, we’ve come across a trend of fraud and scams, so we have been monitoring the online transactions closely to make sure our clients are not the victim of either,” the agent says. “What is the reason for this transaction?” Ippei says it’s for a car loan, and is asked his relationship to the payee (“He’s my friend”) and asked if they’ve met (“Yes, many times”). The former interpreter has plead guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return after stealing nearly $17 million from Shohei, and he’s scheduled to be sentenced February 6th. The restitution prosecutors have asked for is nearly $17 million to Shohei and $1.1 million to the IRS, but noted in their filing that Ippei is unable to pay back the baseball star. “Even if defendant is addicted to gambling, it cannot fully explain defendant’s conduct because defendant used the stolen funds for numerous personal expenses that had nothing to do with gambling,” US attorney Jeff Mitchell wrote in the court filing. “Ultimately, the government submits, the motivating factor behind defendant’s crimes was not a gambling addiction but rather greed.” “His years-long theft of funds from Mr. Ohtani and the myriad lies he told to Mr. Ohtani’s agents and financial advisors to cover up his theft represent a calculated betrayal of the very person he was hired to help,” he continued. As part of his plea agreement from May 2024, there is a possibility Ippei Mizuhara could be deported to Japan where he was born. Recently, Shohei announced a donation to firefighters and fire relief amid the Los Angeles fires. If you recall, Shohei Ohtani signed a massive 10-year, $700 million deal with the LA Dodgers nack in December 2023!
