All righty then! Ippei Mizuhara is negotiating a plea bargain for theft for stealing from Shohei Ohtani’s bank account. They now say he disabled notifications that might have alerted Ohtani and that he might have taken more than the $4.5 Million previously reported. Is Nez Balelo an accessory after the fact?
Kolton Wong just got himself a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks. Reno baby! The Astros just designated utility player Cooper Hummel for assignment. While we are on the season ending shoulder surgery train, catching prospect Jeferson Quero just punched his ticket. Yoan Moncada will miss three to six months with an adductor strain. The Mets just put Kodai Senga on the 60 day injured list. Left hander Chris Murphy just went under the knife for some Tommy John surgery. Shane Bieber is up next for the TJ. The Blue Jays just sent right-hander Wes Parsons to the Guardians for $250,000 of international pool space. The Red Sox extended Ceddane Rafaela for eight years.
I’m sorry if the linke are terse. I am in a super amount of neck pain for reasons unknown. Watch for the meetup sign up sheet today.
🕵 We are by now all completely aware of the so call facts as has been presented, if you believe this story then there one gun at Daly Plaza.
What Bookie anywhere has the kind of credit line that Ippea’s Bookie had? Each player is given a weekly max, when the Ippea bets were called in for thousands every week then this Bookie would have had to make a call to approve these high roller numbers. $180 million in 6 years! Bookies don’t have just one bettor; they have many and the Bookie is really hoping to come out ahead on the vig-the 10% he is paid on the loses.
What Bank takes money transfers of this kind of money amount, no matter who it is on the phone? Does not request the account holder verify in person or have a voice verification system?
Ippea was an employee of both the Angels and Dodgers who should have checked his past a whole lot deeper. Both teams will be on the hook, why else would the Feds make any kind of deal with a guy that stole 16 million dollars?
This whole thing is going to have it’s own “Warren Report” that will be buried for 60 years it’s own self. 🕵
Well, I finally slogged through the Ippei stuff. I’m still lost. Either folks are lying or this has got to be the stupidest bookie of all time. In either case this is pretty crazy wakadoodie. It IS possible that Shohei is just so busy and so rich that he doesn’t notice that much money missing because his lifestyle isn’t touched by it. On the other hand, he also has to not notice that his constant companion is nearly always online betting. Meanwhile, banks and bookies both have to act in ways wildly different than I have knowledge of them doing “because it’s Shohei”. Someone has to be weirdly stupid here. Ippei has to get in way way way way way over his head. Shohei has to be much dimmer than I thought. Banks need to be way dumber than I thought. Bookies have to be far more trusting than I have heard.
This is either an amazing story of bullshit, or an amazing story of perfect storm screw ups. I have no clue if Shohei did anything wrong at all. But all these Doyer toe sucking news guys are like “That’s it. Simple as that. Ippei impersonated him. That’s how it all happened. Nothing to see here. You will forget all about this by July.” and I don’t feel like anything’s really been made clear…. just more detailed?
Those of us who still have an interest in seeing the Q and A portion of this investigation continue, because we smell bullshit, be mindful. This stories expiration date has started ticking with todays report. You run the risk of being called a conspiracy theorist, or an ‘ist or phobe if you ask the wrong questions or say things out loud past the acceptable date. Not sure when that is, so it’s best we all fall line.
We’re running a business here…
-Tony Soprano
It’s perfectly normal, perfectly natural for people to bet 100’s of Millions of dollars in a few years….even when you don’t have 100’s of Millions to gamble with. We’ve all done it. Nothing to see or hear here, nothing but a little gambling problem. 😀
So what if somebody calls you a “conspiracy theorist” ? As I have explained and shown here several times in the past (as have others) conspiracies happen ALL the time. A conspiracy is not some fabulous or unseen thing like the White Whale.
Some party or several parties want to make Ohtani look bad or punish him, for many potential reasons. This would be one way to do it.
The evil…. it’s there…. so evil…. so not real baseball mans
Listen to the podcast with Brandon Lang a few weeks ago.., his story matches up with the amounts. I 100% believe Ohtani knew about it and basically backed Ippei’s gambling but maybe didn’t do it himself per se. In order for this FBI charge to be true both Shohei AND the bookie need to be incredibly stupid. I don’t think Ohtani who carefully watched money to the point of living frugally is that stupid… but more so I can’t believe the boookie who has been in the business his whole life is also dumb to just listen to an impersonating translator in the phone and think it’s Ohtani without verifying. We’re not talking $16 million we’re talking $180 million.
“Carefully watched money” isn’t the same as living frugally
People are saying Ohtani doesn’t care about gambling… hello people he was here 6 years do you not remember how turnt Ohtani got over bottle flipping challenges and baseball rolling competitions in the dugout? Ippei and Shohei were Inseparable. Plus the whole English denial doesn’t fly with out boy Mike Trout, the other guys knowing he spoke English.. now Trout’s a liar too?? Dude my grandmother was a Mexican immigrant who spoke a little English and had a 3rd grade education in a foreign country and knew her own damn finances and could talk to a bank in America.
Problem is Ohtani has already said he didn’t know about it. AND he said Ippei stole from him, which is pretty much again saying he didn’t know. Pretty hard to believe or accept that he knew nothing when it would have had to have been happening ALL the time around him in order for Ippei to meet the numbers that being claimed.
let me add that I don’t get it. How could that much money….if he won $120mil but lost $160mil….how could the bookie let him continue betting? And what’s the $4.5mil? Was that like a downpayment on what was owed?
I’m picturing the bookie saying “you owe me $40mil already. Who should I put you down for in March Madness?” I mean, is there a bookie limit when one is dealing with an interpreter?
I have zero answers but I assume his percieved relationship w ohtani made a lot of people very comfortable when extending credit.
But $180 million?!
The whole thing’s weird. Again, my experience with bookies is very old and very limited, but I’d be shocked if even this bookie had the nut to cover crediting THAT MUCH money. It’s “bookie 101”. He has way too much to lose and it can go horribly sideways for him both if Ippei wins or loses. Plus, with that much credit floating he doesn’t make money holding a normal line…. which is how bookies actually make money.
Kinda makes me wonder, with absolutely no grounds at all, if the bookie wasn’t trying to be a successful bookie but was working with Ippei to try and trap Ohtani and get a big huge pay off. Like, why spend 10 years working as an illegal bookie to make 10M keeping the line from moving when you can find a way to make Ohtani pay you 16M under the table? Some sort of scam like that, maybe even tangling Ohtani in cause he was semi-involved in the betting, but the scam didn’t work as the authorities closed in? Ohtani walks away from the wreck and changes his clothes, Ippei has his name all over it and was scamming so he’s left without a chair?
Or perhaps….. aliens? Just pulling this out my ass.
OK here is what I don’t understand. Ohtani had a bank account here in the United States to deposit his baseball salary – but until last season, he wasn’t making unbelievable amount of money for playing baseball. Prior to last year’s $30 million season he made $5 million one year and before that significantly less.
I am presuming that there were other accounts outside the United States for monies he was making in Japan for advertisement. I’m sure those numbers dwarfed his baseball salary as an Angel.
But since Ippei apparently only had access to his US account, the Baseball salary is apparently what was tapped into.
Accordingly, how did Ippei end up betting and paying out over $140 million? And if the winnings were paid into Ippei’s account- is it safe to presume that he has an account somewhere with a ton of dough in it? Or was she gambling that money and then supplementing it with Ohtani’s. Winning nearly $150 million is a lot of winning.
There is also a mention of Ippei losing at cryptocurrency investments. Was he using the money he won gambling to invest in crypto- and if so there is still an enormous gap between what he owed and the amount of money Ohtani was earning at that time.
The enormous sums of money do not seem to add up or match in anyway the money that Ohtani was being paid to play baseball. So unless ippei had access to all of Ohtani’s accounts and not just his baseball earnings in the US, something doesn’t make sense. Betting $185 million is just unfathomable.
There was one reference to a text from the bookie who said that he was in Newport Beach and saw Ohtani walking his dog and that he would just go up to Ohtani and ask him where Ippei was. Arguably that implies some familiarity between Ohtani and the bookie. I mean, if you or I went up to Ohtani and asked him for Ippei’s whereabouts….where would that get us?
I think there is a possibility here that the Feds are trying to make Ohtani and his camp feel comfortable that the examination does not involve Ohtani. That’s an old trick.
All of this is to say that something just does not sit right with me about all of this.Ippei would have to be a confidence man to a historic level. One would expect a criminal record or something to that point.
In any event, I don’t think that the book is closed on all of this
To move that kind of money, a phone call should not suffice. My bank communicates with me by email, so they have a written record, and it’s for a heck of a lot less money. Often followed up with a phone call to my cell phone to verify.
If things are as they currently appear, the bank could, and should, have some significant exposure.
The current story still smells fishy. It sounds just right to exonerate Ohtani. But it doesn’t jive with prior narratives, so it just seems suspicious. It does sound like either 1) a good explanation or 2) a good story to support Ohtani’s complete innocence.
Look, Ippei…I don’t wanna talk outta skool, but $16 million in debt? Have you begun to consider that you might have a problem?
One of the hallmarks of addiction is when your “hobby” becomes a problem for those around you. People like Shohei Ohtani. Just a thought. Good luck now that the Feds are involved.
I have not seen a good explanation as to why Ippei was scheduling an interview thru Ohtani’s handlers detailing the checks Shohei sent on his behalf to feed his lurid hobby. Then he flipped his story.
So, I’m thinking when Ippei “Came clean” in the locker room meeting, he probably actually ended with, “Soooooo can I get my plane ticket for home now?”
They left him without a way home, I gotta give the Blew Crew credit, that was pretty gangsta.
They Lane Kiffin’d him lol
Left his ass on the tarmac.
Nah, Ippei drained more money and went out to hook up with some K-Pop girls, Sistar.
A former Angels skipper is getting a statue!
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5osVcvyRxE/?igsh=MXF6N2N5YnZ6Mm1vZw==
That’s cool! Good baseball guy.
Talk about watching the kidz play… frozen four is on today and these guys can play hockey! Would love to make it to St Paul one day to watch.
How on earth do you not notice 16 million being pulled from your account, you must not understand blah blah blah…
Well that’s how, Ippei lied, changed contact info, impersonated Ohtani on the phone. And would you look at that, the narrative makes sense once Ippei wasn’t the one putting it out there and changing up his story.
That is a literal mountain of evidence the feds have, and I can’t wait to dig into it when I get home.
I hope this can put this all to rest now. Shohei was victimized by one of his closest confidants. Can’t even imagine what he’s going through.
After reading the materials, I’m kinda surprised Ippei didn’t end up in a landfill after conveying he couldn’t pay back the $40M he lost.
You would think the bank would exhaust all means to get ahold of Shohei given that level of money movement. Hey, Mr. Ohtani, this is _____ bank executive and we’re noticing blah, blah, blah
Something is amiss in this whole scenario, but whatever.
My bank freaks out if I buy gas in two different states on the same day.
Precisely !!!
Wealthy clients will be afforded different levels of trust than your average citizen making an average living.
Do you think if Ohtani buys breakfast in Anaheim in the morning and buys dinner in Seattle after a road game the same day his bank will call him? I doubt it.
The kind of money Shohei has is way more than anything FDIC would cover. It is mind boggling. I would probably have most of that money in a very diversified portfolio of securities. I hope he is getting good advice these days.
If he isn’t changing up his entire team after this and hiring an English tutor, he’s an idiot.
Even if he wants to keep speaking Japanese in the media, that’s fine, but he needs to know what’s going on when he’s in the states at a deeper level.
Good advice? Yes, his wife handles all his money now.
He probably has $20-40M sitting in a high-yield savings account making 5.03% apy. Nice income stream for Ippei.
Very Japanese for the wife to have all the pay and dole out an allowance to a husband
Shohei had to buy his own food when he was with the Angels…..because cheap-evil Arte withheld their per diem.
They…they thought they did.
Ippei was impersonating him on the phone.
If they make a multi-million dollar mistake, they just use the accountant’s great equalizer:
https://youtu.be/XEL65gywwHQ?si=EbEGD60oP9PGREJV
I was thinking of the exact same episode!
That was such a great episode.
That doesn’t bode well for AI and voice recognition……unless Eppei was the one who set up Sho’s voice recognition. Or, I’m completely clueless (my default setting) as to how super rich people bank, probably just call their personal banker 24/7|365 and snap their fingers and money moves. That private banker(s) are definitely looking elsewhere for work. And, you can go into settings and change just about anything, I assume that’s the same for very rich people too.
But, my stink eyebrow is permanently arched until I get a lot more info. The amount of money involved is astronomical. It would require a full-time well trained person to manage that amount of money with all that seems to be involved, all in a few years…..uh, I have many questions.
As much I believe Shohei was a victim of embezzlement, I’m not sure to what extent. In today’s world, wouldn’t rule out anything.
When you receive a call from what you assume is your client authorizing moving funds you move the funds. No questions asked.
You work for them.
I don’t believe that
For that much money you have to have signatures
Yea reading that report has settled it for me.
Not exactly video ippei stuffing duffle bag full of ohtani’s cash but it’ll do.
Those texts were wild
Good on you for changing your opinion based on new information.
Sounds too fishy to me. No way Ohtani did not know. He is not stupid. Too much money not to be noticed by somebody. There is a story here somewhere but we might not hear it for about 20 years. Just in time for Ohtani’s retirement. #freeippei #thetruthwillsetyoufree #nobodyisinnocent #everyonemakesmistakes #nobodysperfectincludingohtani #whatskeletinsisinhiscloset #moneymakesalotofproblemsgoaway. The dodgers and mlb need Ohtani to be clean. Billions of dollars at stake. They will not let their cash cow fall. They will do whatever it takes to save their billions
I mean, cool? It’s your word vs federal prosecutors.
Can’t wait to see a jersey in Dodger blue, with #17, and the name “Victim A” above it
A’ss pitching a No-No into the 7th at the Rangers.
Aaaand it’s gone
Twebur jinxed it!!!! 😎
Or did he bet on the Rangers and is a cooler.
$16M…….Guddam Sam!!!
Ippei went all the way, didn’t he?
Royals beating up on the Astros. I’ll always love listening to Hudler. What a great ambassador for the game. Here’s him holding my daughter for the 6/22/2022 20th anniversary of ‘02 WS game.
I met Hud at the 2010 ALS game. Great guy.
I’d burn one with Rex any day…
Long ago Hud and Physio sat directly behind me and my friend at a very sparsely crowded weekday early spring game. We listen to them shoot the shit about the team, game in general, it was classic. Just hanging out having fun, both spent time with everyone who came by and talked at length with them. Hud was obviously great with the kids.
Soto back to Orioles.
…He’ll be back.
As a friend of mine just noted: Evidently, Ohtani is either an addict or a moron.
Perhaps he’s a baseball savant but a moron with day-to-day administrative and financial matters?
Peter Pan Syndrome is a pop psychology term used to describe an adult who is socially immature. It refers to “never-growing” adults who have reached an adult age, but cannot face their adult sensations and responsibilities. It is a metaphor, based on the concept of not growing up and being trapped in childhood.
Soon to be renamed Ohtanisan Syndrome
Nah, this was hardly a long con. It all unfolded and unraveled in a little over two years time. Ippei started small, and didn’t get ambitious until last year, when the real money started to roll into Ohtani’s salary account (one of several he has). Unsurprising that the red flags started flying in first quarter of 2024.
If you haven’t read the criminal complaint, it’s quite, quite detailed in how Ippei pulled this off…until he didn’t. The texts between him and the bookie are the stuff of David Simon style serial dramas. Sad, gritty, nervous-making, pathetic…and very believable.
Usually long form is for Friday links but this will be a fun Thursday one, thanks!!
Nice to hear from you and thanks for the reading material on an off day.
The detail is amazing – honestly.
Here’s an excerpt:
On or about November 17, 2023, BOOKMAKER 1 messaged MIZUHARA stating, “Hey Ippie, it’s 2 o’clock on Friday. I don’t know why you’re not returning my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see [Victim A] walking his dog. I’m just gonna go up and talk to him and ask how I can get in touch with you since you’re not responding? Please call me back immediately.”
h. On or about November 19, 2023, MIZUHARA messaged BOOKMAKER 1 stating “I’m gonna be honest, I ended up losing a lot of money on crypto the last couple years and I took a huge hit obviously with the sports too. . . . Just wanted to ask, is there any way we can settle on an amount? I’ve lost way too much on the site already . . . of course I know it’s my fault.”
If anyone wonders why the case is wrapping up so quickly, and Ippei is folding – the preponderance of evidence from the text chains alone is so vast and determinative – it’s wild.
The 35966 Records reflect approximately 19,000 wagers between December 2021 and January 2024, and nearly 25 bets per day on average. The wagers reflected in the 35966 Records ranged in value from roughly $10 to $160,000 per bet, with an average bet amount of roughly $12,800. During this period, the 35966 Records reflect total winning bets of $142,256,769.74, and total losing bets of $182,935,206.68, leaving a total net balance of negative $40,678,436.94
🤯😳
Total addict behavior. Unsurprising he was also waist-deep in crypto. I know several young dudes like this guy.
He was out of his mind by 2024, spending $325k on baseball trading cards on eBay. That was when he was transacting more from Ohtani’s account – unsurprising it was all melting down at that point.
Wild stuff! Incredible read
For sure. You can almost feel the desperation in those text exchanges.
High-graded baseball cards have been a killer investment since the pandemic.
Haven’t read it yet….are you telling me that Eppei made over $320,000,000 in bets? In a few years? Math was always tuff for me.
Enjoy! It’s a good one. Made over 19,000 bets (25/day averaging a little less than $13k each one) Cliff notes version
He could have made 20 wagers a day for two years straight and it would have been way short of that number… Hard to believe. I mean, for much of that time he would have been on the road with Shohei, or driving him to the Big A etc.. getting him groceries…
I just don’t see how it would have been physically possible for him to do all of this and Shohei not to be aware of it.
The numbers dont add up but that italicized is from the document itself. It mentioned MGM, fan duel and draft kings were used by ippei too.
I think Agent 1, JC, BL and KF could have more ‘splainin to do. 16+ mil in a “private” account with an interpreter running ship and not vetted/questioned more scrupulously is interesting. Ohtani, at worst, is more naive than I ever thought possible for a 30 year old man. Clearly enabled by multiple layers of yes men/group think.
I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around a lot of this…..
Guess I just wait till the movie “Eppei’ed” comes out. Hope it’s in IMAX.
I still don’t understand the amount bet over a short period of time. Might need someone explain this to me like I’m 7…..that is a shit load of wagering…unless Eppei had a lot of cash gamble with.
Pages 7-13 with the text deets
All you need to read to know that Ippei is a HORRIBLE gambler.
And I say that as a UCLA fan!
…… or neither of the above.
Two things can be true at the same time. And I like the dude.
The Angels Mount Rushmore after 12 games – 1 road trip – 1 home stand
Trout Anderson Ward Detmer
And Logan .353/.456/.529
16 million!?
Wowzers! Lock up Ippei!
seems like ohtani really didnt know what was going on.
man.
what an idiot.
woulda respected that guy way more if he used ippei as plausible deniability.
One of many, many career-driven celebrities who have been bilked by trusted confidantes, managers, agents. My spouse was an investment advisor for years, and her firm’s clients are big names – musicians, athletes, actors, well-off doctors. No one when their nose to the grindstone looks closely at their money – it’s all handled by surrogates.
That doesn’t mean Ohtani is an idiot – it means he’s new to money, doesn’t care much about it, and is learning in short order that he needs professionals and layers of security to preserve it.
Ohtani is clearly focused on baseball, not on money management. His salary only took a stepwise jump in 2023, when Ippei transacted most of his mischief, and Ippei was caught within a year of the big stuff. He wasn’t a particularly savvy conman, because he got caught shortly after he started stealing significant amounts.
Page 26, agent 1’s agency should really have their own Japanese interpreter. Seems Busch league (of course in Thursday afternoon quarterbacking) to not. Just seems cheap.
Page 27, JC the bookkeeper isn’t that great at his job. Kept private should’ve been a red flag. Same for professional financier BL page 28. KF accountant easily fooled page 29.
Ippei didn’t bet on baseball. He did purchase over 1000 baseball cards (including victim A ones)