Shohei Ohtani camp changed its tune on interpreter’s $4.5 million gambling debt

The news surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter was bizarre enough until more details emerged about how some of the particulars had changed over the past 24 hours. 

News broke Wednesday afternoon when the Los Angeles Times published a shocking report that Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, had perpetrated a “massive theft” of millions of dollars of the baseball superstar’s money to place bets with an illegal bookmaker. 

But things took an even stranger turn when a spokesman for Ohtani originally told ESPN that the Dodgers player had transferred funds to help cover Mizuhara’s gambling debt and made the interpreter available to the outlet to explain the situation. 

The Ohtani spokesperson then disavowed what Mizuhara had said during a 90-minute conversation with the World Wide Leader and told ESPN that Ohtani’s lawyers would issue a statement. 

“In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,” the West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler told The Post in a statement.

But during the lengthy conversation with Mizuhara, which had been set up by an Ohtani rep, he painted a picture where he had to ask Ohtani to pay off his gambling debt, which reportedly reached $4.5 million. 

“Obviously, he [Ohtani] wasn’t happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again,” Mizuhara said. “He decided to pay it off for me.

“I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again.”

During his initial interview with ESPN, Mizuhara claimed that he never bet on baseball, that his bets focused on international soccer and football and the NBA, and that he started betting through Mathew Bowyer — a southern California bookmaker whose operation is being investigated by federal investigators — on credit in 2021. 

Mizuhara also said Ohtani sent the wire transfers from his own computer in installments over several months in 2023 and said that the dual-threat player was worried he’d gamble the money away if he simply gave Mizuhara the money instead.  

But the story quickly changed on Wednesday and Mizuhara retracted his comments claiming that Ohtani had actually not had any knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred money to a bookmaker’s associate. 

When the outlet attempted to ask Ohtani’s camp about what Mizuhara had alleged, they contacted Ohtani’s lawyer. 

All of this started after it had been discovered that the star’s name had come up amid an investigation into Bowyer’s alleged illegal bookmaking operation. 

Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday and the team issued a statement that it was “aware of media reports and are gathering information.”