Shohei Ohtani seeks legal action to recover $325,000 worth of baseball cards seized from convicted ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara: Reports

It seems Shohei Ohtani's legal team is still not done with his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara who defrauded the LA Dodgers star of nearly $17 million to pay his gambling debts with an illegal bookmaker from Orange County, his medical bills, and also $325,000 worth of baseball cards.

As per the latest report of the New York Times, Ohtani's attorneys are taking a legal route to obtain back $325,000 worth of baseball cards that were "fraudulently purchased" by Mizuhara. They filed a petition to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday to start the hearing and reclaim back the ownership of baseball cards which are currently in seize-hold of the authorities.

Earlier this year, Mizuhara purchased baseball cards worth $325,000 through online platforms like eBay and Whatnot with the intention of reselling them at a higher value. However, now that he has pleaded guilty and is serving a sentence, Ohtani's legal team is asking for those baseball cards since they were bought with his money in the first place.

Moreover, the report also states Ohtani asking back "a quantity of personally signed collectible baseball cards."

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Shohei Ohtani's interpreter Ippei Mizuhara charged on multiple counts, to be sentenced in January

MLB: Spring Training-San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers - Source: Imagn

In June, Ippei Mizuhara pled guilty to bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. He confessed to spending millions out of Shohei Ohtani's bank account in Arizona to settle debt, pay off medical bills and get into other business opportunities.

All these crimes amount to at least 30 years in federal prison. Moreover, the IRS is also up on his tail for around $1 million in restitution to the department, on top of giving back $17 million to Ohtani, the same amount he is alleged to have defrauded.

Also, there is a chance that Mizuhara will get deported to Japan since he is a green card resident. When the whole ordeal came out, Shohei Ohtani was embarrassed with Mizuhara and how he personated his image for bad purposes.

For what it's worth, Ohtani was quick to put it all behind him as he went on to register one of the best offensive performances in MLB history, on his way to the third unanimous MVP.