Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, has told a new ESPN 30 for 30 podcast that trying to keep up with the baseball star’s way of life contributed to his decision to steal and gamble, according to audio obtained by Forbes.
Interpreter cites financial pressure
Mizuhara, who was paid $85,000 a year while working for the Los Angeles Angels, told reporter Tisha Thompson that he was living “paycheck to paycheck” and struggled to meet expenses while feeling the need to match the lifestyle around him.
“At the time, I couldn’t share this with Shohei, but it was hard for me to make my ends meet… I was kind of going paycheck to paycheck because I kind of had to keep up with his lifestyle,” Mizuhara says in the audio.
He said he did not want to ask Ohtani for financial help and accrued debts with family and friends as a result. Mizuhara also told the podcast he planned to repay the money he took.
Allegations about transfers and Ohtani’s knowledge
In the recording, Mizuhara claimed that Ohtani agreed to resolve Mizuhara’s debts through wire transfers that Mizuhara listed as “loans” in his bank records. He stated that the transfers were made in batches because of limits on how much could be sent at once.
Mizuhara has said that the total included an instance of sending $500,000 at a time and that he carried out the payments “with him every time.” However, Ohtani has disputed those suggestions, maintaining that he was unaware of transfers and that Mizuhara concealed information while embezzling millions from him. Federal investigators and Major League Baseball later cleared Ohtani of wrongdoing.
Legal outcome and public record
Mizuhara was sentenced in 2025 to 57 months in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return. Earlier podcast excerpts have captured him impersonating Ohtani during a February 2022 phone call that sought approval for a payment to a former bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer, who was identified as being from Southern California.
The audio released alongside the podcast offers a candid account of Mizuhara’s perspective on the events that led to his conviction. He told Thompson: “I’m going to pay him back… I told him I’m going to pay him back. It might take a while, but I told him, even if he says no, I’m going to make all the effort to pay him back.”
Context and consequences
The disclosures add texture to a case that attracted global attention because of Ohtani’s status as one of baseball’s most prominent figures. The podcast material does not change the formal findings that exonerated Ohtani, but it does reveal how Mizuhara frames his actions and the pressures he says he experienced in his role.
For readers interested in how personal and professional relationships can become entangled with financial misconduct, the episode underscores several recurring themes:
- the vulnerability of support staff to financial strain while working for high-earning public figures;
- the difficulty of proving another person’s knowledge or consent in financial transactions conducted through intermediaries;
- the long-term legal and reputational consequences for those involved in financial crime.
| Item | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Mizuhara annual salary | $85,000 |
| Example transfer amount mentioned | $500,000 |
| Mizuhara prison sentence | 57 months |
While the podcast brings Mizuhara’s own account into public view, it does not supply documentary evidence in itself that alters earlier legal conclusions. Federal and Major League Baseball investigations had already cleared Ohtani of criminal or disciplinary culpability in the matter.
Listeners and observers will likely weigh Mizuhara’s assertions against the outcomes of those inquiries. The episode, and the additional audio excerpts that have been shared, could prompt renewed public discussion about the responsibilities of high-profile athletes, the people they employ, and the systems that should prevent and detect financial abuse.
For now, the record shows a convicted former interpreter offering an explanation that mixes personal hardship with a pledge to make restitution, set against the backdrop of a high-stakes sport and global celebrity.
