The Feds - The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani

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[00:06]
Ippei Mitsuhara
So Ippei called me. I was sitting in my car at the Trader Joe's parking lot.
[00:13]
Tisha Thompson
This is Diane Bass, a criminal defense attorney in Southern California.
[00:19]
Ippei Mitsuhara
And I answered the phone. He said, this is Ippei Mitsuhara. And Matt gave me your number. I would like you to represent me.
[00:27]
Tisha Thompson
Diane is the lawyer for the bookie, Matt Boyer. She says this call from Ippe came as a complete surprise. Ippe had been fired by the Dodgers in South Korea, and his plane had just landed in the United States.
[00:41]
Ippei Mitsuhara
The very first words out of my mouth, I didn't think. I just blurted, you came back. This is, you know, my defense lawyer. Hat.
[00:49]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei's lawyers had said Shohei was a victim of theft and they were turning the matter over to the authorities. Diane says it was clear to her that Ippe didn't understand the gravity of the situation, because I knew he was
[01:03]
Ippei Mitsuhara
going to be indicted and he'd been out of the country, so why would he come back? And he said, oh, I shouldn't have. I felt so terrible for him. And I said, well, no, your family is here. You did the right thing.
[01:16]
Tisha Thompson
As a criminal defense attorney, Diane knew that what had just happened to Ippe was going to fundamentally change his life.
[01:23]
Ippei Mitsuhara
And I said, I'm so sorry you lost your best friend. And he said, well, it's my fault, you know, and he basically owned it. And then I just quickly said, look, I really wish I could represent you, but I can't. I had a conflict of interest because Matt had given the government information about him.
[01:45]
Tisha Thompson
You hang up the phone with him. What are you thinking? What are you feeling?
[01:49]
Ippei Mitsuhara
I felt really badly for him. He sounded so sweet. I knew he was in a world of trouble.
[01:56]
Tisha Thompson
Ippei was in a world of trouble. And it began as soon as he stepped off the plane at LAX. I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson from 30 for 30 podcasts. This is the betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. Episode five. The feds federal investigation.
[02:18]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Questions about wire transfers. $4.5 million to a Southern California bookmaker. And he has no idea.
[02:36]
Gusto Sponsor
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[03:13]
ABC Audio True Crime Promo
In 2010, a family of four in California goes missing and the clues left behind send investigators on a years long search. Is this a family on the run or is the truth far more sinister? From ABC Audio in 2020, this is what happened to the mixed days coming August 11th wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to 2020 True Crime plus on Apple Podcasts for ad, free episodes, early access to new episodes, and so much more.
[03:55]
Tisha Thompson
When Ippe's plane from Seoul landed at lax, there was a surprise waiting for him.
[04:01]
Martina Estrada
Legal lesson for all your listeners. Every international airport is considered a border. And at a border, restrictions on search and seizure do not apply. So the federal government have full license to conduct warrantless searches at the border.
[04:21]
Tisha Thompson
This is Martina Strada. At the time, he was U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and it was up to him to decide if there was enough evidence to bring charges in the Shohei Ippei case.
[04:33]
Martina Estrada
And so we needed to Investigate, a was Mr. Ohtani involved in this illegal conduct? And B, if he wasn't, how did this happen and who was responsible?
[04:45]
Tisha Thompson
They needed to get to the bottom of what really happened between Shohei Ippei and Matt Boyer's illegal sportsbook. They needed Ippei's phone.
[04:55]
Martina Estrada
Often phones are quite a get. You'll be surprised at what people have in their phones. It's a treasure trove of information for investigators.
[05:03]
Chris Seymour
We had agents waiting and we knew that he was coming in. And so as a result, they do what they do and they ended up having a conversation.
[05:14]
Tisha Thompson
This is Chris Seymour. He was an IRS special agent in LA for more than two decades. When agents intercepted Ippei at the airport,
[05:22]
Chris Seymour
they take his phone voluntarily. He gives up his phone voluntarily.
[05:27]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour had already been investigating Matt Boyer for years. He was the lead agent at the raid on Matt's house. And now it fell to him to investigate the alleged theft of Shohei Ohtani's money. Even though he admits in the beginning he didn't even know who the guy was.
[05:45]
Chris Seymour
Shohei who? I drove downtown Los Angeles to have a big image of Shohei on one of the buildings. It's huge, it's massive. And I was like, who's that? I'm that guy who had no idea who he was.
[05:58]
Tisha Thompson
But after getting hold of Ippei's phone at the airport, it was Seymour and his team who read through nearly 40,000 texts between IPPEI and Shohei.
[06:07]
Chris Seymour
There was a ton of information to process, so we had to break it into chunks. This person handles this, that person handles that. My focus was going through X amount of text messages and looking for anything that would indicate who was doing what.
[06:23]
Tisha Thompson
And it was all in Japanese?
[06:25]
Chris Seymour
Yes. We had to use Google Translate to try to break through some of it.
[06:29]
Tisha Thompson
What were the text messages about?
[06:31]
Chris Seymour
Just commonplace things. Get something to eat. Hey, we're gonna do this? Or what time's this? Maybe a video game. But it was very mundane. Vanilla, I guess, is a common word I would use.
[06:44]
Tisha Thompson
We're talking like a couple hundred texts a day. A couple thousand texts a day.
[06:48]
Chris Seymour
A lot. It was prolific, is what I would say.
[06:53]
Tisha Thompson
Was it employee, employer? Or was it two buddies? I mean, Ippei said they were as close as brothers.
[07:00]
Chris Seymour
It was friends chatting.
[07:04]
Tisha Thompson
A lot of friends chat about betting.
[07:07]
Chris Seymour
Didn't see it.
[07:09]
Tisha Thompson
Not one indication that someone was betting
[07:13]
Chris Seymour
on something, didn't see it.
[07:17]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour says they never found any texts between Ippei and Shohei about gambling or sports betting. But Ippei did talk a lot about betting with Matt Boyer when Ippe was still in South Korea. I had asked during our interview if I could see the messages between him and Matt, but Ippei told me I
[07:38]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
deleted every text I had with Matt.
[07:42]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour found two years worth of encrypted messages on Ippei's phone. And he already had everything they'd found on Matt's phone, which he had seized during the raid, like betting records and money transfers. By combining the two together, Seymour was able to create a timeline of what happened when Ippei first starts betting. The conversation is pretty mundane.
[08:07]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I've just been messing around with soccer.
[08:09]
Tisha Thompson
This is a voice actor reading Ippe's messages.
[08:12]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
There are games on 24. 7, LOL. I took UCLA, but they lost outright.
[08:19]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour zeroed in on messages about logistics, like Ippei asking Matt how he wants him to pay off his debts and how to make a wire transfer.
[08:28]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I apologize for the delay. I've never done a wire transfer.
[08:33]
Tisha Thompson
By January 2022, about three months after IPPE started betting with Matt's sportsbook. Ippei asks if Matt would reload his account because Ippei says he's lost it all. Boyer agrees and bumps him 50 grand. Thirteen days later, Ippei messages again.
[08:52]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Fuck, I lost it all. LOL.
[08:54]
Tisha Thompson
So IPPEI asks for another $50,000.
[08:58]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
That will be my last one for a while if I lose it.
[09:01]
Tisha Thompson
But the encrypted messages show that instead of quitting, Ippei keeps betting and Matt keeps extending him credit.
[09:10]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Any way you can bump me a little bit? I need to wait a week to send another big wire.
[09:14]
Tisha Thompson
This pattern continues for months. Ippei says he needs just a little bit more, says this will be the last time Matt gives him credit. Ippei loses and loses and just keeps losing.
[09:27]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I'm terrible at the sport betting thing, huh? Lol. Any chance you can bump me again? As you know, you don't have to worry about me not paying.
[09:36]
Tisha Thompson
Matt told me that by this point in his relationship with Ippei, he had seen the wires and thought Shohei was paying for the bets. So he was willing to let Ippei get deep into debt.
[09:48]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I swear on my mom, this will be the last ask before I pay it off once I get back to the States. Sorry for keep on asking.
[09:56]
Tisha Thompson
Matt writes back, no problem. Done, bud. Merry Christmas. Ippe's messages to Matt are so casual, so relaxed when you read them. There's no hint at how high the stakes had become for both of these men because By May of 2023, IPPEI owed Matt at least $2 million for more credit.
[10:24]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Bumps into June, I got my ass kicked again. Lol.
[10:28]
Tisha Thompson
Matt writes back a long message telling Ippe that he'll bump him, but adds, it's just imperative that the 500 is sent every week. He means the $500,000 wires. IPPEI responds, I'm the worst.
[10:41]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
LOL. Can't catch a break. Can I get one last bump? I swear this is going to be my last until I get the balance down significantly.
[10:50]
Tisha Thompson
Matt gives him the bump. The next day, Ippei sends another ask.
[10:55]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I have a problem. Lol. Can I get one last, last, last bump? This one is for real. Last one for real.
[11:03]
Tisha Thompson
Matt writes, Done. I have the same problem. To be honest with you, Ippe, as long as you can guarantee the 500 every Monday, I'll give you as much as you want because I know you're good for it. In my interview with Matt, he said he felt like he understood Ippe's psychology, that he could relate to struggling with a gambling addiction. And here Matt is in the messages essentially telling Ippe that he gets it because he has the same problem. Ippei ultimately bet with Matt's sportsbook for about two years. Martina Estrada, the former U.S. attorney on the case, says in that time, Ippe did an extraordinary amount of gambling.
[11:43]
Martina Estrada
I myself was shocked to see Mitsuhara had bet on over 19,000 sports events over a few years. I mean, even if I wanted to, I couldn't do that many bets.
[12:01]
Tisha Thompson
Reading the encrypted messages, some might see Matt as a predatory bookie preying on someone's weakness. An IPE is someone descending further and further into gambling addiction. But the federal investigators see it very differently.
[12:17]
Martina Estrada
I'm not convinced he was just a gambling addict and had no choice. I think it's more he got this great opportunity, but then he saw a bigger opportunity to enrich himself and took advantage of that opportunity.
[12:30]
Tisha Thompson
Because, he says, investigators quickly realized Ippei wasn't just using Shohei's money for sports betting. What did the baseball card say to you?
[12:39]
Chris Seymour
That's a question. That's a real question.
[12:51]
Gusto Sponsor
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[13:36]
Jeff Mitchell
Anytime you get these jerseys on the field together, the blue against the black and the orange, it's special.
[13:42]
Ippei Mitsuhara
Yeah, it's special.
[13:43]
Tisha Thompson
On April 2, 2024, the Dodgers were in the middle of a three game series against the San Francisco Giants. The scandal had erupted less than two weeks earlier.
[13:52]
Jeff Mitchell
Otani swings and misses at 98.
[13:56]
Tisha Thompson
The Dodgers would go on to win all three games. SH went 3 for 11 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs.
[14:05]
Jeff Mitchell
Threw a good one and finished a good one.
[14:10]
Tisha Thompson
What we didn't know is before those games, Shohei had spent the day in interviews with federal investigators before.
[14:18]
Martina Estrada
I'm gonna go on the record and say anyone is a victim. I'm gonna make real sure that they are, in fact a victim.
[14:25]
Tisha Thompson
Martina Estrada and his prosecutors needed to assess what Shohei may or may not have known.
[14:31]
Martina Estrada
Mr. Ohtani was cooperative with the federal investigation from day one. That's not often the case. Even with people who have nothing to hide, people are worried about dealing with the feds.
[14:43]
Tisha Thompson
Investigators spent much of their time going through Shohei's finances, trying to understand the complex network of bank accounts and people Managing Shohei's wealth.
[14:54]
Jeff Mitchell
Shohei had bookkeepers, he had accountants, he had sports agents, and he had Ipei and a tax specialist as well.
[15:02]
Tisha Thompson
Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell was the lead attorney investigating Ippei. He says the money from Shohei's endorsement deals and other investments in the US Was managed by a financial team led by Shohei. Sports agent Nez Bolello, he had that
[15:19]
Jeff Mitchell
team in place the entire time. So he never, according to the people who we spoke to, he never, you know, was involved in checking the accounts on a day to day basis.
[15:29]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei didn't meet with his financial team very often, but when he did, he would bring Ippei because no one on the financial team spoke Japanese.
[15:38]
Jeff Mitchell
And it kind of makes sense, like, you know, the bank records are in English. He doesn't speak or read English, so he has a team for that.
[15:45]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei told the Feds he generally didn't ask too many specific questions.
[15:50]
Jeff Mitchell
And when we asked him about checking on the status of your accounts, he would ask to ask the agents to ask his team, you know, what is my overall financial picture? And then they would relay that to Ippei, who would then convey that to Shohei.
[16:06]
Tisha Thompson
Ippei having knowledge about Shohei's finances is very different from the typical interpreter player relationship. Money was something that we never touched, we never saw. Koda Ishijima, a former MLB interpreter, says she's never heard of any interpreter other than Ippei becoming involved in a player's financial affairs. And Mitch Lively, the other baseball player that Ippei interpreted for, says Ippei wasn't part of his banking.
[16:34]
Jeff Mitchell
In my relationship with him, he didn't access to any of my money.
[16:38]
Tisha Thompson
But Ippei wasn't just an interpreter for Shohei. The Angels paid him to be an interpreter, but he also worked directly for Shohei himself as his personal assistant. According to the Feds, when Shohei arrived in the United States in 2018, IPPEI helped him set up a Bank of America account. According to the Feds, Shoah Shohei's salary from the Angels went into this account. Shohei was the only signatory, meaning no one. But Shohei could legally withdraw money from
[17:08]
Jeff Mitchell
it, and the money was not touched for several years.
[17:13]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei told the Feds he thought the money in that bank of America account was being managed by his sports agent, Nez. Nez is a big deal at CAA Creative Artists Agency, the biggest and most valuable agency in the world. Nez told the federal investigators that he asked Ippei about this account. But Ippei told him it was private and Shohei didn't want anyone to have access to it. So Shohei sports agent was told there was a private bank account with millions of dollars in it that Shohei didn't want anyone to know about. What did Nez think was going on with that account? Why would Shohei need it to be private? Nez Bolello declined our request for an interview, but according to the feds, he never asked Shohei himself about the account and never hired a second Japanese speaker to double check what Ippei was telling him, even though he was managing tens of millions of dollars for baseball's biggest star. Instead, Nezbolelo told investigators he had no reason to not to believe Ippei. But the feds didn't just take one guy's word for it. They hauled in Shohei's financial advisor, his tax accountant, and his bookkeeper. Two of them told investigators they asked the agent about the private account, and Nez Bolello told them the same thing. Shohei wants to keep that account private. He just took Ippei's word for it. What is your understanding, based on your conversations of how much the agent understood?
[18:58]
Jeff Mitchell
So the financial bookkeepers and financial advisors and the accountants were asking the sports agent for the account that ended in the 5848 number. And then the sports agent would ask ebay for it, and then ebay would lie and say, shohei doesn't want you to look at that.
[19:17]
Tisha Thompson
The last four digits of the private bank account appear in court documents. 5848. That's the same bank account number I wrote down in my notebook when I saw the wire transfers. It's the same bank of America account that sent money to Matt Boyer's operation. And now the feds had uncovered a damning detail. The bank account had been dormant since its creation and was accessed for the first time on the same day that Matt's oper he needed to start paying off his betting losses. The Fed spotted a $40,000 payment from the private bank account sent a month later and matched it to money received by Matt's operation. They could also see the big $500,000 wire transfer starting in May of 2023.
[20:10]
Chris Seymour
Although you see the name Shohei Ohtani as the sender, you know that's just a bank account. You know that's just. Just a place where it originated from.
[20:20]
Tisha Thompson
These big transfers from Shohei's account started just as Shohei's salary with the Angels went way up from $5.5 million to $30 million. The account was suddenly even more flush with cash. And soon after, new charges began to appear. They began in January 2024 and continued until we broke the story about two months later. The charges were from ebay and another online marketplace called Whatnot, and the purchases were being sent to someone named J. Min at the Dodgers clubhouse. But when the feds interviewed a Dodgers employee who handles the mail, the employee told them Jay Min wasn't a real person. Ippei had told the employee that he was going to be receiving packages under that name. When Seymour opened them, along with boxes and briefcases he seized from Ippe's car, he found they all contained baseball cards. What did the baseball card say to you?
[21:24]
Chris Seymour
That's a question. That's a real question. There's a lot of cards, and there was a lot of some high dollar ones in there. It was as if he had some other plan and that this was an escape strategy or this was his way of converting his loss, the gambling loss and everything, and the funds into something that could be worth something in the future, almost like an investment.
[21:51]
Tisha Thompson
The charges for the cards totaled $325,000.
[21:56]
Chris Seymour
I think my favorite one would be Yogi Berra. So it's like, this is cool. This is an old Yogi Berra card. This is actually really cool.
[22:05]
Tisha Thompson
A Yogi Berra card can be worth nearly $200,000. Seymour also remembers seeing other highly collectible cards, like a Juan Soto, which can Fetch more than $300,000. But the value of a baseball card depends on a number of factors, including its condition and how rare it is.
[22:23]
Chris Seymour
I could tell that some of these were very high quality. They're high graded.
[22:28]
Tisha Thompson
They had the plastic case around them and.
[22:31]
Chris Seymour
Yeah, but they were also specially typed cards with a cork and with the pieces of the fabric of the jersey. So these were not just your dime store cards.
[22:45]
Tisha Thompson
When I spoke to Ippe's high school friend, he told me Ippei had been an avid baseball card collector. As a teenager, he would study the cards, memorizing facts and statistics about different players. And his friend remembered how Ippei would try to sell the baseball cards for a profit. I found one of Ippei's best friends from middle school, and Ippei loved to go to the baseball card conventions and buy baseball cards of his favorite players.
[23:10]
Chris Seymour
That makes sense.
[23:12]
Tisha Thompson
And he had Shohei Ohtani cards.
[23:13]
Chris Seymour
Oh, lots of them. Yeah.
[23:15]
Tisha Thompson
What did that say to you?
[23:17]
Chris Seymour
I suspected that maybe he was trying to get Shohei to sign them for him. At one point, I don't know. And my gut is telling me that that's what he was trying to do with those.
[23:27]
Tisha Thompson
Was there a smoking gun in Ippei's case where you're like, there it is.
[23:33]
Chris Seymour
The recording of him calling in to do the wires.
[23:38]
Tisha Thompson
You can't just send a big wire payment out of a bank account without the bank asking a lot of questions. Since Shohei was the only signatory on the account, he was the only person who could authorize payments from it.
[23:52]
Bank of America Employee
This call may be monitored and recorded.
[23:54]
Tisha Thompson
This is a Bank of America recording from February 2022. Who am I speaking with?
[24:01]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Shohei Okani.
[24:03]
Bank of America Employee
Thank you. How may I help you?
[24:05]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
I tried to log into online banking, and it tells me that's not available to me at this time.
[24:13]
Tisha Thompson
I call Seymour would track the bank of America call to the same cell phone number I called when I interviewed Epay.
[24:23]
Bank of America Employee
Could you tell me the name of the payee and the amount of the transaction, please?
[24:28]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
It's for $200,000.
[24:31]
Bank of America Employee
What is your relationship to the payee?
[24:35]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
He's my friend.
[24:36]
Bank of America Employee
Okay. Have you met your friend in person?
[24:40]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Yes, many times.
[24:42]
Bank of America Employee
Will there be any future wires to your friend?
[24:46]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Possibly.
[24:48]
Bank of America Employee
What is the reason for this transaction?
[24:51]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
For a car loan.
[24:54]
Tisha Thompson
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a car loan. The bank employee doesn't buy it and freezes Shohei's account. But Ippei doesn't give up. He calls back and gets a different bank employee, like before. Ippei says his name is Shohei Ohtani. But this time the bank wants him to answer security questions. Things only Shohei should know. But because Ippei helped Shohei set up the account. Because Ippei's job is to pretty much know everything about Shohei. And because by now Ippei had linked his cell phone and his personal email to Shohei's bank account, Ippei is able to provide answers that convince the bank employee to reopen the account.
[25:42]
Jeff Mitchell
What I found to be the most persuasive was when I heard Ippei in those bank recorded phone calls.
[25:50]
Tisha Thompson
This is Jeff Mitchell, the assistant US Attorney who prosecuted the case. The feds found that Ippei impersonated Shohei on the bank calls 24 times.
[26:00]
Jeff Mitchell
He's trying to kind of authorize money and wire transfers out of the Shohei's account. And you could hear Ippei in his own voice, in perfect English, say, hi, I am Shohei Ohtani. And you know it's not Shohei. So once we obtain those, I think that was like the last piece of evidence that we waited for, Shohei Ohtani
[26:23]
Tisha Thompson
could have said, ippei, just pretend to be me. Just get it done. I authorize you to do this. I don't want to deal with it. You just deal with it. Did you have to go through sort of that mental exercise of did he have permission to do this, even though technically he shouldn't have said he was Shohei Ohtani? He is Shohei Ohtani's personal assistant representative. He does all his banking, he does his driver's license. He does all these things.
[26:49]
Jeff Mitchell
You know, we had so much evidence at that point. So by the time we actually had the recorded phone call, you know, it wasn't really like that mental leap to kind of say, okay, now we have enough to prove our case.
[27:05]
Tisha Thompson
Mitchell points to the larger body of evidence that the Feds gathered and one particular encrypted message that to the Feds was as good as an admission of guilt.
[27:15]
Jeff Mitchell
He confessed. You know, Boyer at one point said, well, it's not like you stole the money, right? And then Ippei replied, actually, no, I really did steal the money.
[27:25]
Tisha Thompson
Mitchell was paraphrasing, but the exact words Ippei used in the message are important. Here is the actual exchange. It happened right after our story broke.
[27:35]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Ippei wrote, matt, have you seen the reports?
[27:38]
Tisha Thompson
Matt responded, yes, but that's all bullshit. Obviously you didn't steal from him. I understand it's a cover job. I totally get it.
[27:46]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
But Ippe wrote back, technically, I did steal from him.
[27:51]
Tisha Thompson
What does Ippei mean by technically I did steal from him? Is he trying to claim he didn't exactly steal from Shohei or. Or is it a confession? Technically, I did steal from him.
[28:08]
Martina Estrada (Announcement)
Good morning. My name is Martine Estrada. I'm the United States Attorney based here in Los Angeles. We are here to announce today the filing of a federal criminal complaint against Ife Mizuhara, a person who until recently.
[28:24]
Tisha Thompson
On April 11, 2024, just three weeks after we broke the story, Assistant U.S. attorney Jeff Mitchell filed a court doc document. It contained a 36 page affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Chris Seymour that laid out the government's case against Ippei Mizahara. And it was Martine Estrada who announced to the world just how much trouble Ippei was in.
[28:47]
Martina Estrada (Announcement)
The federal complaint filed just a few minutes ago charges Mitsuhara with bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Mr. Ohtani. According to the complaint, Mr. Mitsuhara stole this money largely to finance his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.
[29:11]
Tisha Thompson
The charges meant Ippei was now facing up to 30 years in federal prison.
[29:16]
Martina Estrada (Announcement)
Mr. Mitsuhara is expected to make his appearance in the next coming days, and he'll make his appearance in this district.
[29:23]
Tisha Thompson
All right, thank you very much.
[29:27]
Martina Estrada
Mitsuhara was given this golden opportunity. He basically got the key to the castle. He got that opportunity, but it wasn't enough.
[29:38]
Tisha Thompson
How do you describe Mitsuhara? Who is he really, in your mind?
[29:44]
Martina Estrada
I think he is a fraudster. He's a person who saw a chance to take advantage of. He went and befriended Ohtani as soon as he signed his contract, saw an opportunity, seized that opportunity, and took advantage of this guy who's really relying on him as a Sherpa to get through the United States and understand the customs here. Ohtani was a victim, clear victim, not just of the gambling fraud. There were other things Mitsuhara was doing, too. So he basically treated Ohtani like his personal piggy bank, which in my view, especially with all the opportunity that Mr. Ohtani gave to him, is inexcusable.
[30:34]
Tisha Thompson
The evidence that federal investigators gathered in their case is damning. Impersonating Shohei on the phone to the bank, raiding Shohei's private bank account, using his money to buy baseball cards and to pay off gambling debts. Who would do this to their best friend? People who have spent a lot of time observing and covering Shohei and Ippei have always believed that they were close and separable. If Shohei Ohtani was there, Ippei was there. If Ippei was there, Shohei Ohtani was there. I don't know that I ever saw them apart.
[31:09]
Martina Estrada
The portrayal was that Mitsuhara and Ohtani are best friends. Longtime best friends.
[31:14]
Tisha Thompson
Right.
[31:14]
Martina Estrada
They were beyond friends. There was something there that was like a brotherhood.
[31:21]
Tisha Thompson
Even Ippei told me they were like brothers.
[31:25]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
He's best friends. We are like brothers. We're with each other every day.
[31:31]
Jeff Mitchell
Yeah.
[31:31]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Spend more time with him than my wife, probably.
[31:34]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Yeah.
[31:35]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Yeah. So, I mean, feel like a family to me.
[31:40]
Bank of America Employee
Yeah.
[31:41]
Tisha Thompson
But what if even that isn't true?
[31:44]
Martina Estrada
How did you redevelop your relationship with Ippei?
[31:49]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
We're not friends or anything.
[31:50]
Chris Seymour
We're just business partners.
[31:54]
Tisha Thompson
That's next on the Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani is based on reporting by me, Tisha Thompson, with support from Tim Kewan and the ESPN Investigative Unit. Our producer is Carrie Ann Thomas. Our senior producer is Max Green. Our senior editorial producer is Preeti Voice Varathon. Our associate producer is Gus Navarro. Story editing by Audrey Quinn, Elaine Tang, Eric Neal and Mike Drago. Additional editing by Rebecca Hudson. Our archival producer is Jennifer Wheelock. Our line producer is Kathryn Sankey. Production managers are Jason Schwartz and Sheena Williams. Fact checking by John Master Beradino with David Sabino. Additional editorial review from Masa Niwa. Voiceover by Genta Nakahara. Original music by Alison Layton Brown and John Delor. Sound design by John Delor. Chris Buckle is vice president of ESPN investigative enterprise and digital journalism. Marcia Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather Anderson and Burke Magnus are executive producers for 30 for 30. David Roberts, Mike Foss and Roxanna Scott are executive producers for ESPN.

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani – Episode 5: The Feds
Podcast: The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani | Host: ESPN, Tisha Thompson
Date: August 6, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the federal investigation that unraveled the dramatic betrayal of baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani by his trusted interpreter and confidant, Ippei Mizuhara. Through firsthand accounts, exclusive interviews with investigators, and revealing evidence, the story details the lengths to which Ippei went to fuel his gambling addiction—crossing both legal and personal boundaries, and ultimately transforming what seemed like an unbreakable bond of brotherhood into a notorious scandal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shocking Phone Call: Ippei Returns to L.A.

Diane Bass, a criminal defense attorney, shares how Ippei unexpectedly called her for representation after being fired and arriving back in the US.
Quote:
- “He sounded so sweet. I knew he was in a world of trouble.” – Diane Bass (01:49)
Diane couldn't represent Ippei due to a conflict of interest—she was already representing Matt Boyer, the bookie.

2. Federal Agents Await Ippei at LAX

Martina Estrada (U.S. Attorney for Central District, CA): Any international airport is a border, giving feds full search rights. (04:01)
Chris Seymour (IRS Special Agent):
- Ippei’s phone was voluntarily handed over, unlocking nearly 40,000 texts. (05:21)
- Quote:
  - “Shohei who?...I was that guy who had no idea who he was.” – Chris Seymour on Ohtani’s fame (05:44)
- Most of Ippei and Shohei’s texts were mundane, with no mention of gambling. (06:06-07:12)
- Encrypted messages with Matt Boyer, however, told a different story—detailing the growth of Ippei’s gambling debts.

3. Unmasking the Gambling Operation

Ippei’s gambling habits: over 19,000 bets in just a few years, with losses continuously mounting. (11:43)
Quote:
- “I myself was shocked to see Mitsuhara had bet on over 19,000 sports events…even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do that many bets.” – Martina Estrada (11:43)
Matt Boyer extended increasing lines of credit because he believed Ohtani’s money was backing Ippei.
Notable Exchange:
- “Any chance you can bump me again? As you know, you don’t have to worry about me not paying.” – Ippei in text to Matt (09:27)
- Matt’s reply: “Done, bud. Merry Christmas.” (09:55)

4. Shohei’s Financial World and the Trusted Inner Circle

Ohtani’s complex financial setup involved agents, bookkeepers, and tax specialists—none of whom spoke Japanese, so Ippei became the key go-between.
Shohei’s Bank of America account, set up in 2018 with only his name, went untouched until Ippei needed to fund his gambling debts. (17:08)
The financial team and agent Nez Bolello took Ippei’s word about the account being private, never independently confirming with Shohei. (18:57)

5. Fraud Uncovered: The Smoking Gun

Wire transfers from Ohtani’s account matched deposits with Matt Boyer’s operation. Purchases under a fake identity (“J. Min”) led to the discovery of expensive baseball cards bought with stolen funds. (21:23)
Quote:
- “There’s a lot of cards…and some high dollar ones in there. It was as if he had some other plan…maybe as an investment.” – Chris Seymour (21:23)
Evidence of impersonation: Bank of America call recordings where Ippei pretends to be Shohei to authorize transfers. (24:00)
- Quote:
  - “Hi, I am Shohei Ohtani.” – Ippei on recorded bank call (24:00)
Feds determined that Ippei had impersonated Shohei on 24 separate occasions, fundamentally sealing the case. (25:49)

6. Explicit Confession

After the scandal broke, Ippei admitted in a message to Matt:
- Quote:
  - “Technically, I did steal from him.” – Ippei (Voice Actor, 27:45)

7. Formal Charges & Fallout

On April 11, 2024, a federal criminal complaint accused Ippei of stealing over $16 million from Ohtani—mainly to finance illegal sports betting. (28:47)
Maximum penalty: up to 30 years in federal prison. (29:11)
Quote:
- “He basically treated Ohtani like his personal piggy bank, which in my view…is inexcusable.” – Martina Estrada (29:37)

8. Shattered Brotherhood

Despite all outward appearances of brotherhood, the investigation and interviews suggest the foundation was not as strong as believed.
Memorable Moment:
- “We’re with each other every day…spend more time with him than my wife, probably. So, I mean, feel like a family to me.” – Ippei (31:35)

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

“He sounded so sweet. I knew he was in a world of trouble.” – Diane Bass (01:49)
“Shohei who?...I was that guy who had no idea who he was.” – Chris Seymour (05:44)
“I myself was shocked to see Mitsuhara had bet on over 19,000 sports events over a few years. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do that many bets.” – Martina Estrada (11:43)
“There’s a lot of cards…and some high dollar ones in there. It was as if he had some other plan…maybe as an investment.” – Chris Seymour (21:23)
“Hi, I am Shohei Ohtani.” – Ippei (Bank call, 24:00)
“Technically, I did steal from him.” – Ippei (Text to Matt, 27:45)
“He basically treated Ohtani like his personal piggy bank…inexcusable.” – Martina Estrada (29:37)
“We’re with each other every day…feel like a family to me.” – Ippei (31:35)

Segment Timestamps

Ippei’s call to defense attorney: 00:06 – 01:49
Customs search at LAX & phone seizure: 03:54 – 05:27
Analysis of 40,000 Ippei-Shohei texts: 05:44 – 07:12
Encrypted betting messages with Matt Boyer: 07:37 – 12:16
Ohtani’s financial arrangements & isolated bank account: 14:54 – 20:09
Baseball card purchases as money laundering: 21:23 – 23:10
Key evidence - bank call recordings: 24:00 – 25:49
Ippei’s confession: 27:15 – 27:51
Federal charges and press conference: 28:08 – 29:16
Reflections on the friendship/brotherhood: 31:08 – 31:39

Tone & Final Thoughts

The episode is investigative and methodical, focused on unpacking how Ippei’s unchecked power and access led to betrayal that shocked the baseball world. The personal tragedy of a close bond soured by fraud permeates the narrative, concluding with a sense of loss—not just of millions of dollars, but of trust at the heart of a sports superstar’s inner circle.

Next Episode Tease:
Despite appearances of brotherhood, the story asks: Was the deep friendship between Ohtani and Ippei ever truly real?

Loading summary

Transcript168 lines

[00:06]
Ippei Mitsuhara
So Ippei called me. I was sitting in my car at the Trader Joe's parking lot.
[00:13]
Tisha Thompson
This is Diane Bass, a criminal defense attorney in Southern California.
[00:19]
Ippei Mitsuhara
And I answered the phone. He said, this is Ippei Mitsuhara. And Matt gave me your number. I would like you to represent me.
[00:27]
Tisha Thompson
Diane is the lawyer for the bookie, Matt Boyer. She says this call from Ippe came as a complete surprise. Ippe had been fired by the Dodgers in South Korea, and his plane had just landed in the United States.
[00:41]
Ippei Mitsuhara
The very first words out of my mouth, I didn't think. I just blurted, you came back. This is, you know, my defense lawyer. Hat.
[00:49]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei's lawyers had said Shohei was a victim of theft and they were turning the matter over to the authorities. Diane says it was clear to her that Ippe didn't understand the gravity of the situation, because I knew he was
[01:03]
Ippei Mitsuhara
going to be indicted and he'd been out of the country, so why would he come back? And he said, oh, I shouldn't have. I felt so terrible for him. And I said, well, no, your family is here. You did the right thing.
[01:16]
Tisha Thompson
As a criminal defense attorney, Diane knew that what had just happened to Ippe was going to fundamentally change his life.
[01:23]
Ippei Mitsuhara
And I said, I'm so sorry you lost your best friend. And he said, well, it's my fault, you know, and he basically owned it. And then I just quickly said, look, I really wish I could represent you, but I can't. I had a conflict of interest because Matt had given the government information about him.
[01:45]
Tisha Thompson
You hang up the phone with him. What are you thinking? What are you feeling?
[01:49]
Ippei Mitsuhara
I felt really badly for him. He sounded so sweet. I knew he was in a world of trouble.
[01:56]
Tisha Thompson
Ippei was in a world of trouble. And it began as soon as he stepped off the plane at LAX. I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson from 30 for 30 podcasts. This is the betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. Episode five. The feds federal investigation.
[02:18]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Questions about wire transfers. $4.5 million to a Southern California bookmaker. And he has no idea.
[02:36]
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[03:13]
ABC Audio True Crime Promo
In 2010, a family of four in California goes missing and the clues left behind send investigators on a years long search. Is this a family on the run or is the truth far more sinister? From ABC Audio in 2020, this is what happened to the mixed days coming August 11th wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to 2020 True Crime plus on Apple Podcasts for ad, free episodes, early access to new episodes, and so much more.
[03:55]
Tisha Thompson
When Ippe's plane from Seoul landed at lax, there was a surprise waiting for him.
[04:01]
Martina Estrada
Legal lesson for all your listeners. Every international airport is considered a border. And at a border, restrictions on search and seizure do not apply. So the federal government have full license to conduct warrantless searches at the border.
[04:21]
Tisha Thompson
This is Martina Strada. At the time, he was U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and it was up to him to decide if there was enough evidence to bring charges in the Shohei Ippei case.
[04:33]
Martina Estrada
And so we needed to Investigate, a was Mr. Ohtani involved in this illegal conduct? And B, if he wasn't, how did this happen and who was responsible?
[04:45]
Tisha Thompson
They needed to get to the bottom of what really happened between Shohei Ippei and Matt Boyer's illegal sportsbook. They needed Ippei's phone.
[04:55]
Martina Estrada
Often phones are quite a get. You'll be surprised at what people have in their phones. It's a treasure trove of information for investigators.
[05:03]
Chris Seymour
We had agents waiting and we knew that he was coming in. And so as a result, they do what they do and they ended up having a conversation.
[05:14]
Tisha Thompson
This is Chris Seymour. He was an IRS special agent in LA for more than two decades. When agents intercepted Ippei at the airport,
[05:22]
Chris Seymour
they take his phone voluntarily. He gives up his phone voluntarily.
[05:27]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour had already been investigating Matt Boyer for years. He was the lead agent at the raid on Matt's house. And now it fell to him to investigate the alleged theft of Shohei Ohtani's money. Even though he admits in the beginning he didn't even know who the guy was.
[05:45]
Chris Seymour
Shohei who? I drove downtown Los Angeles to have a big image of Shohei on one of the buildings. It's huge, it's massive. And I was like, who's that? I'm that guy who had no idea who he was.
[05:58]
Tisha Thompson
But after getting hold of Ippei's phone at the airport, it was Seymour and his team who read through nearly 40,000 texts between IPPEI and Shohei.
[06:07]
Chris Seymour
There was a ton of information to process, so we had to break it into chunks. This person handles this, that person handles that. My focus was going through X amount of text messages and looking for anything that would indicate who was doing what.
[06:23]
Tisha Thompson
And it was all in Japanese?
[06:25]
Chris Seymour
Yes. We had to use Google Translate to try to break through some of it.
[06:29]
Tisha Thompson
What were the text messages about?
[06:31]
Chris Seymour
Just commonplace things. Get something to eat. Hey, we're gonna do this? Or what time's this? Maybe a video game. But it was very mundane. Vanilla, I guess, is a common word I would use.
[06:44]
Tisha Thompson
We're talking like a couple hundred texts a day. A couple thousand texts a day.
[06:48]
Chris Seymour
A lot. It was prolific, is what I would say.
[06:53]
Tisha Thompson
Was it employee, employer? Or was it two buddies? I mean, Ippei said they were as close as brothers.
[07:00]
Chris Seymour
It was friends chatting.
[07:04]
Tisha Thompson
A lot of friends chat about betting.
[07:07]
Chris Seymour
Didn't see it.
[07:09]
Tisha Thompson
Not one indication that someone was betting
[07:13]
Chris Seymour
on something, didn't see it.
[07:17]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour says they never found any texts between Ippei and Shohei about gambling or sports betting. But Ippei did talk a lot about betting with Matt Boyer when Ippe was still in South Korea. I had asked during our interview if I could see the messages between him and Matt, but Ippei told me I
[07:38]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
deleted every text I had with Matt.
[07:42]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour found two years worth of encrypted messages on Ippei's phone. And he already had everything they'd found on Matt's phone, which he had seized during the raid, like betting records and money transfers. By combining the two together, Seymour was able to create a timeline of what happened when Ippei first starts betting. The conversation is pretty mundane.
[08:07]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I've just been messing around with soccer.
[08:09]
Tisha Thompson
This is a voice actor reading Ippe's messages.
[08:12]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
There are games on 24. 7, LOL. I took UCLA, but they lost outright.
[08:19]
Tisha Thompson
Seymour zeroed in on messages about logistics, like Ippei asking Matt how he wants him to pay off his debts and how to make a wire transfer.
[08:28]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I apologize for the delay. I've never done a wire transfer.
[08:33]
Tisha Thompson
By January 2022, about three months after IPPE started betting with Matt's sportsbook. Ippei asks if Matt would reload his account because Ippei says he's lost it all. Boyer agrees and bumps him 50 grand. Thirteen days later, Ippei messages again.
[08:52]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Fuck, I lost it all. LOL.
[08:54]
Tisha Thompson
So IPPEI asks for another $50,000.
[08:58]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
That will be my last one for a while if I lose it.
[09:01]
Tisha Thompson
But the encrypted messages show that instead of quitting, Ippei keeps betting and Matt keeps extending him credit.
[09:10]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Any way you can bump me a little bit? I need to wait a week to send another big wire.
[09:14]
Tisha Thompson
This pattern continues for months. Ippei says he needs just a little bit more, says this will be the last time Matt gives him credit. Ippei loses and loses and just keeps losing.
[09:27]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I'm terrible at the sport betting thing, huh? Lol. Any chance you can bump me again? As you know, you don't have to worry about me not paying.
[09:36]
Tisha Thompson
Matt told me that by this point in his relationship with Ippei, he had seen the wires and thought Shohei was paying for the bets. So he was willing to let Ippei get deep into debt.
[09:48]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I swear on my mom, this will be the last ask before I pay it off once I get back to the States. Sorry for keep on asking.
[09:56]
Tisha Thompson
Matt writes back, no problem. Done, bud. Merry Christmas. Ippe's messages to Matt are so casual, so relaxed when you read them. There's no hint at how high the stakes had become for both of these men because By May of 2023, IPPEI owed Matt at least $2 million for more credit.
[10:24]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Bumps into June, I got my ass kicked again. Lol.
[10:28]
Tisha Thompson
Matt writes back a long message telling Ippe that he'll bump him, but adds, it's just imperative that the 500 is sent every week. He means the $500,000 wires. IPPEI responds, I'm the worst.
[10:41]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
LOL. Can't catch a break. Can I get one last bump? I swear this is going to be my last until I get the balance down significantly.
[10:50]
Tisha Thompson
Matt gives him the bump. The next day, Ippei sends another ask.
[10:55]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
I have a problem. Lol. Can I get one last, last, last bump? This one is for real. Last one for real.
[11:03]
Tisha Thompson
Matt writes, Done. I have the same problem. To be honest with you, Ippe, as long as you can guarantee the 500 every Monday, I'll give you as much as you want because I know you're good for it. In my interview with Matt, he said he felt like he understood Ippe's psychology, that he could relate to struggling with a gambling addiction. And here Matt is in the messages essentially telling Ippe that he gets it because he has the same problem. Ippei ultimately bet with Matt's sportsbook for about two years. Martina Estrada, the former U.S. attorney on the case, says in that time, Ippe did an extraordinary amount of gambling.
[11:43]
Martina Estrada
I myself was shocked to see Mitsuhara had bet on over 19,000 sports events over a few years. I mean, even if I wanted to, I couldn't do that many bets.
[12:01]
Tisha Thompson
Reading the encrypted messages, some might see Matt as a predatory bookie preying on someone's weakness. An IPE is someone descending further and further into gambling addiction. But the federal investigators see it very differently.
[12:17]
Martina Estrada
I'm not convinced he was just a gambling addict and had no choice. I think it's more he got this great opportunity, but then he saw a bigger opportunity to enrich himself and took advantage of that opportunity.
[12:30]
Tisha Thompson
Because, he says, investigators quickly realized Ippei wasn't just using Shohei's money for sports betting. What did the baseball card say to you?
[12:39]
Chris Seymour
That's a question. That's a real question.
[12:51]
Gusto Sponsor
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[13:36]
Jeff Mitchell
Anytime you get these jerseys on the field together, the blue against the black and the orange, it's special.
[13:42]
Ippei Mitsuhara
Yeah, it's special.
[13:43]
Tisha Thompson
On April 2, 2024, the Dodgers were in the middle of a three game series against the San Francisco Giants. The scandal had erupted less than two weeks earlier.
[13:52]
Jeff Mitchell
Otani swings and misses at 98.
[13:56]
Tisha Thompson
The Dodgers would go on to win all three games. SH went 3 for 11 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs.
[14:05]
Jeff Mitchell
Threw a good one and finished a good one.
[14:10]
Tisha Thompson
What we didn't know is before those games, Shohei had spent the day in interviews with federal investigators before.
[14:18]
Martina Estrada
I'm gonna go on the record and say anyone is a victim. I'm gonna make real sure that they are, in fact a victim.
[14:25]
Tisha Thompson
Martina Estrada and his prosecutors needed to assess what Shohei may or may not have known.
[14:31]
Martina Estrada
Mr. Ohtani was cooperative with the federal investigation from day one. That's not often the case. Even with people who have nothing to hide, people are worried about dealing with the feds.
[14:43]
Tisha Thompson
Investigators spent much of their time going through Shohei's finances, trying to understand the complex network of bank accounts and people Managing Shohei's wealth.
[14:54]
Jeff Mitchell
Shohei had bookkeepers, he had accountants, he had sports agents, and he had Ipei and a tax specialist as well.
[15:02]
Tisha Thompson
Assistant US Attorney Jeff Mitchell was the lead attorney investigating Ippei. He says the money from Shohei's endorsement deals and other investments in the US Was managed by a financial team led by Shohei. Sports agent Nez Bolello, he had that
[15:19]
Jeff Mitchell
team in place the entire time. So he never, according to the people who we spoke to, he never, you know, was involved in checking the accounts on a day to day basis.
[15:29]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei didn't meet with his financial team very often, but when he did, he would bring Ippei because no one on the financial team spoke Japanese.
[15:38]
Jeff Mitchell
And it kind of makes sense, like, you know, the bank records are in English. He doesn't speak or read English, so he has a team for that.
[15:45]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei told the Feds he generally didn't ask too many specific questions.
[15:50]
Jeff Mitchell
And when we asked him about checking on the status of your accounts, he would ask to ask the agents to ask his team, you know, what is my overall financial picture? And then they would relay that to Ippei, who would then convey that to Shohei.
[16:06]
Tisha Thompson
Ippei having knowledge about Shohei's finances is very different from the typical interpreter player relationship. Money was something that we never touched, we never saw. Koda Ishijima, a former MLB interpreter, says she's never heard of any interpreter other than Ippei becoming involved in a player's financial affairs. And Mitch Lively, the other baseball player that Ippei interpreted for, says Ippei wasn't part of his banking.
[16:34]
Jeff Mitchell
In my relationship with him, he didn't access to any of my money.
[16:38]
Tisha Thompson
But Ippei wasn't just an interpreter for Shohei. The Angels paid him to be an interpreter, but he also worked directly for Shohei himself as his personal assistant. According to the Feds, when Shohei arrived in the United States in 2018, IPPEI helped him set up a Bank of America account. According to the Feds, Shoah Shohei's salary from the Angels went into this account. Shohei was the only signatory, meaning no one. But Shohei could legally withdraw money from
[17:08]
Jeff Mitchell
it, and the money was not touched for several years.
[17:13]
Tisha Thompson
Shohei told the Feds he thought the money in that bank of America account was being managed by his sports agent, Nez. Nez is a big deal at CAA Creative Artists Agency, the biggest and most valuable agency in the world. Nez told the federal investigators that he asked Ippei about this account. But Ippei told him it was private and Shohei didn't want anyone to have access to it. So Shohei sports agent was told there was a private bank account with millions of dollars in it that Shohei didn't want anyone to know about. What did Nez think was going on with that account? Why would Shohei need it to be private? Nez Bolello declined our request for an interview, but according to the feds, he never asked Shohei himself about the account and never hired a second Japanese speaker to double check what Ippei was telling him, even though he was managing tens of millions of dollars for baseball's biggest star. Instead, Nezbolelo told investigators he had no reason to not to believe Ippei. But the feds didn't just take one guy's word for it. They hauled in Shohei's financial advisor, his tax accountant, and his bookkeeper. Two of them told investigators they asked the agent about the private account, and Nez Bolello told them the same thing. Shohei wants to keep that account private. He just took Ippei's word for it. What is your understanding, based on your conversations of how much the agent understood?
[18:58]
Jeff Mitchell
So the financial bookkeepers and financial advisors and the accountants were asking the sports agent for the account that ended in the 5848 number. And then the sports agent would ask ebay for it, and then ebay would lie and say, shohei doesn't want you to look at that.
[19:17]
Tisha Thompson
The last four digits of the private bank account appear in court documents. 5848. That's the same bank account number I wrote down in my notebook when I saw the wire transfers. It's the same bank of America account that sent money to Matt Boyer's operation. And now the feds had uncovered a damning detail. The bank account had been dormant since its creation and was accessed for the first time on the same day that Matt's oper he needed to start paying off his betting losses. The Fed spotted a $40,000 payment from the private bank account sent a month later and matched it to money received by Matt's operation. They could also see the big $500,000 wire transfer starting in May of 2023.
[20:10]
Chris Seymour
Although you see the name Shohei Ohtani as the sender, you know that's just a bank account. You know that's just. Just a place where it originated from.
[20:20]
Tisha Thompson
These big transfers from Shohei's account started just as Shohei's salary with the Angels went way up from $5.5 million to $30 million. The account was suddenly even more flush with cash. And soon after, new charges began to appear. They began in January 2024 and continued until we broke the story about two months later. The charges were from ebay and another online marketplace called Whatnot, and the purchases were being sent to someone named J. Min at the Dodgers clubhouse. But when the feds interviewed a Dodgers employee who handles the mail, the employee told them Jay Min wasn't a real person. Ippei had told the employee that he was going to be receiving packages under that name. When Seymour opened them, along with boxes and briefcases he seized from Ippe's car, he found they all contained baseball cards. What did the baseball card say to you?
[21:24]
Chris Seymour
That's a question. That's a real question. There's a lot of cards, and there was a lot of some high dollar ones in there. It was as if he had some other plan and that this was an escape strategy or this was his way of converting his loss, the gambling loss and everything, and the funds into something that could be worth something in the future, almost like an investment.
[21:51]
Tisha Thompson
The charges for the cards totaled $325,000.
[21:56]
Chris Seymour
I think my favorite one would be Yogi Berra. So it's like, this is cool. This is an old Yogi Berra card. This is actually really cool.
[22:05]
Tisha Thompson
A Yogi Berra card can be worth nearly $200,000. Seymour also remembers seeing other highly collectible cards, like a Juan Soto, which can Fetch more than $300,000. But the value of a baseball card depends on a number of factors, including its condition and how rare it is.
[22:23]
Chris Seymour
I could tell that some of these were very high quality. They're high graded.
[22:28]
Tisha Thompson
They had the plastic case around them and.
[22:31]
Chris Seymour
Yeah, but they were also specially typed cards with a cork and with the pieces of the fabric of the jersey. So these were not just your dime store cards.
[22:45]
Tisha Thompson
When I spoke to Ippe's high school friend, he told me Ippei had been an avid baseball card collector. As a teenager, he would study the cards, memorizing facts and statistics about different players. And his friend remembered how Ippei would try to sell the baseball cards for a profit. I found one of Ippei's best friends from middle school, and Ippei loved to go to the baseball card conventions and buy baseball cards of his favorite players.
[23:10]
Chris Seymour
That makes sense.
[23:12]
Tisha Thompson
And he had Shohei Ohtani cards.
[23:13]
Chris Seymour
Oh, lots of them. Yeah.
[23:15]
Tisha Thompson
What did that say to you?
[23:17]
Chris Seymour
I suspected that maybe he was trying to get Shohei to sign them for him. At one point, I don't know. And my gut is telling me that that's what he was trying to do with those.
[23:27]
Tisha Thompson
Was there a smoking gun in Ippei's case where you're like, there it is.
[23:33]
Chris Seymour
The recording of him calling in to do the wires.
[23:38]
Tisha Thompson
You can't just send a big wire payment out of a bank account without the bank asking a lot of questions. Since Shohei was the only signatory on the account, he was the only person who could authorize payments from it.
[23:52]
Bank of America Employee
This call may be monitored and recorded.
[23:54]
Tisha Thompson
This is a Bank of America recording from February 2022. Who am I speaking with?
[24:01]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Shohei Okani.
[24:03]
Bank of America Employee
Thank you. How may I help you?
[24:05]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
I tried to log into online banking, and it tells me that's not available to me at this time.
[24:13]
Tisha Thompson
I call Seymour would track the bank of America call to the same cell phone number I called when I interviewed Epay.
[24:23]
Bank of America Employee
Could you tell me the name of the payee and the amount of the transaction, please?
[24:28]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
It's for $200,000.
[24:31]
Bank of America Employee
What is your relationship to the payee?
[24:35]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
He's my friend.
[24:36]
Bank of America Employee
Okay. Have you met your friend in person?
[24:40]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Yes, many times.
[24:42]
Bank of America Employee
Will there be any future wires to your friend?
[24:46]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Possibly.
[24:48]
Bank of America Employee
What is the reason for this transaction?
[24:51]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
For a car loan.
[24:54]
Tisha Thompson
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a car loan. The bank employee doesn't buy it and freezes Shohei's account. But Ippei doesn't give up. He calls back and gets a different bank employee, like before. Ippei says his name is Shohei Ohtani. But this time the bank wants him to answer security questions. Things only Shohei should know. But because Ippei helped Shohei set up the account. Because Ippei's job is to pretty much know everything about Shohei. And because by now Ippei had linked his cell phone and his personal email to Shohei's bank account, Ippei is able to provide answers that convince the bank employee to reopen the account.
[25:42]
Jeff Mitchell
What I found to be the most persuasive was when I heard Ippei in those bank recorded phone calls.
[25:50]
Tisha Thompson
This is Jeff Mitchell, the assistant US Attorney who prosecuted the case. The feds found that Ippei impersonated Shohei on the bank calls 24 times.
[26:00]
Jeff Mitchell
He's trying to kind of authorize money and wire transfers out of the Shohei's account. And you could hear Ippei in his own voice, in perfect English, say, hi, I am Shohei Ohtani. And you know it's not Shohei. So once we obtain those, I think that was like the last piece of evidence that we waited for, Shohei Ohtani
[26:23]
Tisha Thompson
could have said, ippei, just pretend to be me. Just get it done. I authorize you to do this. I don't want to deal with it. You just deal with it. Did you have to go through sort of that mental exercise of did he have permission to do this, even though technically he shouldn't have said he was Shohei Ohtani? He is Shohei Ohtani's personal assistant representative. He does all his banking, he does his driver's license. He does all these things.
[26:49]
Jeff Mitchell
You know, we had so much evidence at that point. So by the time we actually had the recorded phone call, you know, it wasn't really like that mental leap to kind of say, okay, now we have enough to prove our case.
[27:05]
Tisha Thompson
Mitchell points to the larger body of evidence that the Feds gathered and one particular encrypted message that to the Feds was as good as an admission of guilt.
[27:15]
Jeff Mitchell
He confessed. You know, Boyer at one point said, well, it's not like you stole the money, right? And then Ippei replied, actually, no, I really did steal the money.
[27:25]
Tisha Thompson
Mitchell was paraphrasing, but the exact words Ippei used in the message are important. Here is the actual exchange. It happened right after our story broke.
[27:35]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Ippei wrote, matt, have you seen the reports?
[27:38]
Tisha Thompson
Matt responded, yes, but that's all bullshit. Obviously you didn't steal from him. I understand it's a cover job. I totally get it.
[27:46]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
But Ippe wrote back, technically, I did steal from him.
[27:51]
Tisha Thompson
What does Ippei mean by technically I did steal from him? Is he trying to claim he didn't exactly steal from Shohei or. Or is it a confession? Technically, I did steal from him.
[28:08]
Martina Estrada (Announcement)
Good morning. My name is Martine Estrada. I'm the United States Attorney based here in Los Angeles. We are here to announce today the filing of a federal criminal complaint against Ife Mizuhara, a person who until recently.
[28:24]
Tisha Thompson
On April 11, 2024, just three weeks after we broke the story, Assistant U.S. attorney Jeff Mitchell filed a court doc document. It contained a 36 page affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Chris Seymour that laid out the government's case against Ippei Mizahara. And it was Martine Estrada who announced to the world just how much trouble Ippei was in.
[28:47]
Martina Estrada (Announcement)
The federal complaint filed just a few minutes ago charges Mitsuhara with bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Mr. Ohtani. According to the complaint, Mr. Mitsuhara stole this money largely to finance his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting.
[29:11]
Tisha Thompson
The charges meant Ippei was now facing up to 30 years in federal prison.
[29:16]
Martina Estrada (Announcement)
Mr. Mitsuhara is expected to make his appearance in the next coming days, and he'll make his appearance in this district.
[29:23]
Tisha Thompson
All right, thank you very much.
[29:27]
Martina Estrada
Mitsuhara was given this golden opportunity. He basically got the key to the castle. He got that opportunity, but it wasn't enough.
[29:38]
Tisha Thompson
How do you describe Mitsuhara? Who is he really, in your mind?
[29:44]
Martina Estrada
I think he is a fraudster. He's a person who saw a chance to take advantage of. He went and befriended Ohtani as soon as he signed his contract, saw an opportunity, seized that opportunity, and took advantage of this guy who's really relying on him as a Sherpa to get through the United States and understand the customs here. Ohtani was a victim, clear victim, not just of the gambling fraud. There were other things Mitsuhara was doing, too. So he basically treated Ohtani like his personal piggy bank, which in my view, especially with all the opportunity that Mr. Ohtani gave to him, is inexcusable.
[30:34]
Tisha Thompson
The evidence that federal investigators gathered in their case is damning. Impersonating Shohei on the phone to the bank, raiding Shohei's private bank account, using his money to buy baseball cards and to pay off gambling debts. Who would do this to their best friend? People who have spent a lot of time observing and covering Shohei and Ippei have always believed that they were close and separable. If Shohei Ohtani was there, Ippei was there. If Ippei was there, Shohei Ohtani was there. I don't know that I ever saw them apart.
[31:09]
Martina Estrada
The portrayal was that Mitsuhara and Ohtani are best friends. Longtime best friends.
[31:14]
Tisha Thompson
Right.
[31:14]
Martina Estrada
They were beyond friends. There was something there that was like a brotherhood.
[31:21]
Tisha Thompson
Even Ippei told me they were like brothers.
[31:25]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
He's best friends. We are like brothers. We're with each other every day.
[31:31]
Jeff Mitchell
Yeah.
[31:31]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Spend more time with him than my wife, probably.
[31:34]
Voice Actor (reading Ippei's messages)
Yeah.
[31:35]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
Yeah. So, I mean, feel like a family to me.
[31:40]
Bank of America Employee
Yeah.
[31:41]
Tisha Thompson
But what if even that isn't true?
[31:44]
Martina Estrada
How did you redevelop your relationship with Ippei?
[31:49]
Ippei Mitsuhara (Interview Clips)
We're not friends or anything.
[31:50]
Chris Seymour
We're just business partners.
[31:54]
Tisha Thompson
That's next on the Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani is based on reporting by me, Tisha Thompson, with support from Tim Kewan and the ESPN Investigative Unit. Our producer is Carrie Ann Thomas. Our senior producer is Max Green. Our senior editorial producer is Preeti Voice Varathon. Our associate producer is Gus Navarro. Story editing by Audrey Quinn, Elaine Tang, Eric Neal and Mike Drago. Additional editing by Rebecca Hudson. Our archival producer is Jennifer Wheelock. Our line producer is Kathryn Sankey. Production managers are Jason Schwartz and Sheena Williams. Fact checking by John Master Beradino with David Sabino. Additional editorial review from Masa Niwa. Voiceover by Genta Nakahara. Original music by Alison Layton Brown and John Delor. Sound design by John Delor. Chris Buckle is vice president of ESPN investigative enterprise and digital journalism. Marcia Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather Anderson and Burke Magnus are executive producers for 30 for 30. David Roberts, Mike Foss and Roxanna Scott are executive producers for ESPN.