Summary
Ippei Mizuhara is under federal indictment and charged with bank fraud. He allegedly stole more than $16 million of Shohei Ohtani's money to pay off gambling debts. Mizuhara worked as Ohtani's interpreter and personal assistant for six years. He was fired in March when the scandal over his admitted gambling addiction came to light. He graduated from Diamond Bar High School, in eastern Los Angeles County, in 2003. Ippei Mizuhara was nearly inseparable for Shohei Ohtani's first six years in the major leagues. He was a training partner, a butler and a confidant. And, as we now know from federal investigators, he allegedly used to siphon money to pay off a staggering amount of gambling debt. Mizuhara worked as one of two team-employed interpreters for the four American players each NPB team is allowed to employ. He took on a variety of duties that spread far beyond the narrow confines of his job title. Crotta spent the first season in Sapporo by himself while his then-wife and young son remained at the family's home in Florida. After the Fighters' spring training in Okinawa ended the following March, Crotta's wife, pregnant with the couple's second child, traveled to Japan with their son. Mizuhara flew from Sapporo to Tokyo to meet up with them and accompany them on the final leg of their journey. Mizuhara has helped many people through their lives. One man says he wouldn't have experienced Japan as much as he did without him. Another says he would have stayed there if he could have become more conversant in the language. "I can't give you a yes or a no or a maybe, and I don't want to try," Lively says. "I just know I never heard him talk about gambling, not once," he says.