Ohtanis translator fired for stealing

[hermanotarjeta]

I’ve never known a breaker that stopped anyone from participating in breaks no matter how many times they participated and lost 99% of their money.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

The fact that Ohtani's reps have reached out directly to law enforcement to request an investigation makes me think maybe this is all very legitimate. Why would you invite law enforcement to look deeper if you were part of a cover up? Unless they think the cover up is so good that the cops will be fooled too.

Because not doing so would practically be admitting guilt.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by JRX

The point is that his losses were 4.5M, but his notional betting amount is likely much larger which makes it even less likely he was doing this all on his own.

That's not a conclusion you can draw from that information. Again, if all his gambling losses were paid for him, the bookie will take a virtually infinite amount of bets. His winnings were rolled over into other bets, and his losses get paid for him when they pile up. Could be theft, or could be someone paying his debts. Neither is precluded from the mere fact that he piled up millions in bets. Lots of gamblers get in over their head to the tune of multiple times their annual salary every day, all on their own (and often hide it from those around them). So it does not make it less likely he was doing this on his own.

[Grave252]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

The fact that Ohtani's reps have reached out directly to law enforcement to request an investigation makes me think maybe this is all very legitimate. Why would you invite law enforcement to look deeper if you were part of a cover up? Unless they think the cover up is so good that the cops will be fooled too.

I tend to agree here, unless they are morons. Forensic accountants will find everything.

I underwrite crime insurance as part of my job. I had a CFO w/ a forensic accounting background tell us how stupid our questions were, bragged about how good their controls were, etc. Welp - 6 months later it turns out he had siphoned off $7M from the company and even with his background everything was found.

[onenineeightsix]

Originally Posted by spuds1961

Actually the example you just gave makes it even worse for Ohtani, that would mean Mizuhara would have had to steal 500k 9 separate times which you would think would’ve been noticed at least once or in the other scenario of Ohtani paying off his friends gambling debts that would be 9 times he bailed out which I find hard to believe. Something is not adding up and I am not jumping to any conclusions till it all comes out. I just don’t think it looks good either way.

Yes, the fact that it wasn't a one-time thing makes the alleged theft all the more unlikely. The theft story was a mad scramble to try to throw cold water on the Ohtani-gambling pay off connection anyway, never a shred of truth to it. Made things worse ultimately. Once you lie you become less believable the next thing you say. I wouldn't believe anything coming out of Ohtanis camp at the moment. They're desperately trying to distance their client from a potential sh!tstorm. I have no issue personally with Ohtani gambling on things aside from MLB, however, doing it illegally in a state that doesn't allow it and through an illegally operating bookmaker is worth investigating I would think. At least from the federal government's standpoint. MLB is obviously not going to be digging into this any deeper than they have to, given Ohtani is a cash cow. Same tactic they used in the 90's-early 2000's with the steroid scandal.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by onenineeightsix

Yes, the fact that it wasn't a one-time thing makes the alleged theft all the more unlikely.

As someone who sees criminal cases in court daily, this is absolutely not accurate.

[onenineeightsix]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

As someone who sees criminal cases in court daily, this is absolutely not accurate.

It's moot anyway. The interpreter didn't steal anything. That story was only put forth by Ohtanis reps to distance him from the pay offs. This also isn't a jilted husband, wife, or lover scenario, or accountant or business manager pilfering funds over time from accessible accounts. This is a guy's interpreter that's accused of this. The idea that he would have access to Shohei's cash, let alone millions of it, is silly.

[TheFrenzy]

[Seitas]

This is so bad for baseball. I also don’t believe for a second that Ohtani isn’t more involved or aware than his camp is suggesting. The hard part for me to digest is how ‘in-bed’ pro sports has become with gambling. There are NFL teams that have sportsbooks at or near the entrance of their stadiums. You can go to a Washington commanders game and grab a beer and place a bet at halftime. I know Ohtani situtation involves a bookie in a state where this is not legal, and now with the feds involved it will likely get really ugly. I hate the dodgers with a passion but I will be extremely disappointed if Ohtani receives a significant ban as a result of this. Also, almost every single pro athlete I know gambles and bets on games. If he is guilty, he is not alone…he just got caught.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by Seitas

This is so bad for baseball. I also don’t believe for a second that Ohtani isn’t more involved or aware than his camp is suggesting. The hard part for me to digest is how ‘in-bed’ pro sports has become with gambling. There are NFL teams that have sportsbooks at or near the entrance of their stadiums. You can go to a Washington commanders game and grab a beer and place a bet at halftime. I know Ohtani situtation involves a bookie in a state where this is not legal, and now with the feds involved it will likely get really ugly. I hate the dodgers with a passion but I will be extremely disappointed if Ohtani receives a significant ban as a result of this. Also, almost every single pro athlete I know gambles and bets on games. If he is guilty, he is not alone…he just got caught.

Professional sports betting is turning into horse race betting, except the human athletes on the fields have become the horses.

[vwnut13]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

The fact that Ohtani's reps have reached out directly to law enforcement to request an investigation makes me think maybe this is all very legitimate. Why would you invite law enforcement to look deeper if you were part of a cover up? Unless they think the cover up is so good that the cops will be fooled too.

Because law enforcement is already looking into it...

[onenineeightsix]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

The fact that Ohtani's reps have reached out directly to law enforcement to request an investigation makes me think maybe this is all very legitimate. Why would you invite law enforcement to look deeper if you were part of a cover up? Unless they think the cover up is so good that the cops will be fooled too.

Wouldn't be the first time a hen let the fox in, as it were. Also, this operates under the assumption that Ohtani's reps know everything he does and how he spends each dollar. They may not have the clearest picture of their client. But what's good for him is good for them and making him look as squeaky clean as is humanly possible at this point, is good for everyone.

[johnlocke36]

Originally Posted by JRX

The point is that his losses were 4.5M,.

This is a very very bold assumption. Could very easily be much much much bigger.

Take someone else in headlines like Bruno Mars. Would you consider his gambling losses the amount he’s already wired to MGM or the alleged 50 million he owes

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by vwnut13

Because law enforcement is already looking into it...

Not theft. That would be a completely separate case.

[JRX]

Originally Posted by johnlocke36

This is a very very bold assumption.

That we know of. I'm not up on the latest reports, but is it still 9 transfers of 500k?

[TimBuckTwo]

What about the vig?

[Neal]

Originally Posted by MyckKabongo

Ohtani will easily skate right on by the feds unless there's hard proof that he personally made bets. Seriously doubt anything exists and even then, the feds dont really want to find it.

Charging Ohtani would be a full-fledged diplomatic incident between the US and Japan. Court of public opinion both domestically and abroad will not see Ohtani as worthy of charges for bailing out his friend.

Feds will rightfully decide not to charge even if they could do so on the wire payments.

The most MLB might do is a short suspension, but they'll only do that if worse details come out. MLB very much wants this all to go away.

No way ...

If Ohtani made bets, he is going down.

As of now, I don't believe he did, but I do believe that he knew exactly why HE wired the money. Wasn't theft ...

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[johnlocke36]

Sports betting evil if with a bookie but it’s great if it’s with draft kings (offering +250,000 on picking a perfect bracket, nothing predatory there)


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[JRX]

Originally Posted by Neal

No way ...

If Ohtani made bets, he is going down.

As of now, I don't believe he did, but I do believe that he knew exactly why HE wired the money. Wasn't theft ...

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Not necessarily. In mlb, the punishment for betting illegally on non-baseball is up to the commish.

[cms11]

"Why did Ippei Mizuhara change his story?
The two accounts of what happened could not conflict more. The first, as told to ESPN by a spokesperson for Ohtani as well as by Mizuhara himself, is that the two-time MVP wired the money to cover his friend’s gambling debt. The second, as told by Ohtani’s attorneys, is that the superstar was the victim of theft. The attorneys did not explain how the theft could have occurred.

Once the attorneys entered the picture, the spokesperson and Mizuhara disavowed their initial story. Mizuhara did a complete reversal, telling ESPN that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling debts and that Ohtani had not transferred money to a bookmaking operation.

The most logical assumption: Ohtani’s attorneys feared the original version could place him in some form of legal jeopardy. Which raises another question: Why did the spokesperson for Ohtani allow Mizuhara to talk at all?

A number of outlets pointed out Thursday that multiple federal laws prohibit wiring money to an unlicensed sports gambling operation. Whether Ohtani would be prosecuted for such an act is not known. The government generally goes after bookmakers, not bettors. And based on the accounts thus far, Ohtani wasn’t the one betting.

Might the league, however, discipline Ohtani for his mere association with an illegal bookmaking operation, even if he said he was only acting on behalf of a friend? The Major League rules, specifically Rule 21(f), give the commissioner broad powers to issue discipline, citing that old standby, “the best interests of baseball.”

Of course, it’s easy to see how commissioner Rob Manfred might determine that a ban on Ohtani simply for being naive would not be in the best interests of baseball."


https://theathletic.com/5361168/2024...ndal-questions

[cms11]

My take is that the first claim was truthful - Ohtani paid his friend's debts.

The story was changed to avoid legal problems from wiring money to an unlicensed sports gambling operation.

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by johnlocke36

Sports betting evil if with a bookie but it’s great if it’s with draft kings (offering +250,000 on picking a perfect bracket, nothing predatory there)

Considering +250,000 odds is equal to an outcome with a 0.04% chance of happening and a perfect bracket has a roughly 0.00000001% chance of happening......

......those odds are off by something like six orders of magnitude.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by onenineeightsix

It's moot anyway. The interpreter didn't steal anything. That story was only put forth by Ohtanis reps to distance him from the pay offs. This also isn't a jilted husband, wife, or lover scenario, or accountant or business manager pilfering funds over time from accessible accounts. This is a guy's interpreter that's accused of this. The idea that he would have access to Shohei's cash, let alone millions of it, is silly.

Hmm. I thought you weren't drawing conclusions? Those sound like you've made up your mind already. Believe what you want, but just know, as someone who has seen thousands of cases, it's not always what it seems, even if the information you have makes you think there is no other explanation. Don't be so sure of what you think you know. Something you are basing your conclusion on could turn out to be entirely inaccurate.

Every time someone says "the most logical explanation" they should be ignored right away. We don't have all the facts, so there is no logical way to draw conclusions.

[jjrpilot]

This whole fiasco is bad for baseball.

[Neal]

Originally Posted by JRX

Not necessarily. In mlb, the punishment for betting illegally on non-baseball is up to the commish.

True
I was implying that if he bet on baseball

I don't think he did btw

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