Shohei Ohtani Update: Ippei Mizuhara formally charged with stealing $16,000,000 from Dodgers slugger

Shohei Ohtani's former translator Ippei Mizuhara has officially been charged over the gambling scandal. After news broke that he'd been gambling illegally, controversy ensued. He was eventually fired and Ohtani went on record claiming he had stolen from him.

Initially, the funds taken from Shohei Ohtani amounted to $4.5 million. However, after the investigation, Mizuhara is being charged for theft of an astonishing $16 million, much more than the initial figure.

ESPN baseball reporter Alden Gonzalez broke the news on X, formerly known as Twitter:

"Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani's longtime interpreter and confidant, has been charged with bank fraud after it was discovered he transferred more than $16M from Ohtani's account to an alleged illegal sports book, federal authorities announced in L.A. court."

Bank fraud is the official charge for the former translator whom Ohtani called his friend. He reportedly transferred more than $16 million from the account to illegal sportsbooks to fund his illicit gambling.

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Shohei Ohtani was not the one gambling

Since federal authorities have officially charged Ippei Mizuhara with bank fraud, it is safe to say that Shohei Ohtani truly never had anything to do with this scandal. Many suspected he was involved and that his friend was taking the fall for him.

Shohei Ohtani did not gamble on sports

However, with the charges, that's evidently not the case. Ohtani also went into a press conference and plainly stated that he had nothing to do with it. Via ESPN, he said:

"I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked somebody to do that on my behalf. I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports. Up until a couple of days ago, I didn't know that this was happening."

He was also shocked and appalled that his friend would do this to him. Now he has a new translator and is focusing on moving past it and getting back to top form for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

They are off to a brilliant start this year, but Ohtani hasn't played quite as well as he has in the past, so there's room for some improvement as well.