Infamous bookie reveals origin story of Shohei Ohtani's tainted ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara's gambling scandal

Bookmaker Mathew Bowyer claimed that the gambling addiction of Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, started small but quickly spiraled out of control. According to the infamous bookmaker, Mizuhara's casual bets ultimately resulted in multimillion-dollar debts.

Mizuhara, who once served as Ohtani's trusted interpreter with the Los Angeles Angels and later the Dodgers, was exposed for placing millions in illegal bets through Bowyer. The revelation stunned the baseball world, given Ohtani's clean image and Mizuhara's once-close relationship with him.

Bowyer shared how he met Mizuhara on Monday during an exclusive sit-down with Bill "Krackman" Krackomberger, a professional sports bettor, and Jon Orlando.

"So my good friend, in fact, he called just a minute ago," Bowyer said. "He has a really good relationship with David Fletcher, You know, who obviously played for the Angels, and we were all buddies, and we go golfing and gamble on the golf course and hang out. And in that relationship, he developed, you know, more ballplayer relationships."[Timestamp 35:05].

He recalled one particular day in 2021 when the group attended a Padres vs Angels game before heading to a private poker session later that night.

"Long story short, Ippei was there," Bowyer said. "He was on his phone putting in bets, you know, literally on soccer games. So my buddy's like, 'Hey, you know, Matt can help you with that.'

"You know, you know, that introduction led to, of course, him starting with a small account, $1,000, $8,000 credit line, which turned into 300,000, which turned into 500,000, and then ended up being 40 million."

Bowyer pointed out that he gave more credit to Mizuhara due to his position as the interpreter of Ohtani. Moreover, he paid back the credit on time, thus earning his trust.

Mathew Bowyer still doesn't know whether Shohei Ohtani knew about Ippei Mizuhara's gambling habits

In the same conversation, Mathew Bowyer explained that Ippei Mizuhara was bad at gambling. Due to his greed, Bowyer admitted that he was always ready to give credit to Mizuhara.

The bookie also claimed he had no idea Mizuhara was stealing money from Shohei Ohtani to settle debts. He said he only realized it when the balance exceeded a million dollars and Mizuhara couldn't pay it back quickly.

That was when he saw Ohtani's name on a wire transfer, which, according to him, was his first indication that the star was involved.

"This is the part that's still, in my opinion, in question," Bowyer said. "Did Ohtani know that the interpreter was gambling? And to the level he was, and did he steal his money or borrow it, or that part to me is still in question. But clearly, it's known that he stole the money." [Timestamp 38:03].

Mizuhara is serving a 57-month prison sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, after being found guilty of stealing around $17 million from Shohei Ohtani's bank account.

Bowyer initially faced the prospect of more than four years in prison. However, because he cooperated with the government, federal prosecutors in California have recommended a reduced sentence of 15 months.