Ohtani Interpreter Sports Betting Money Was Laundered Through Las Vegas Casinos

The wild story of Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and his gambling addiction took another crazy turn, thanks to a new report from ESPN's Tisha Thompson.

Mizuhara has been charged with a federal crime for stealing $16 million from the 29-year-old superstar to engage in illegal sports betting over the course of several years.

READ: Feds Charge Ippei Mizuhara For Stealing $16M From Shohei Ohtani, Share Details Of Interpreter's Betting Habits

Part of Mizuhara's alleged theft was a series of $500,000 payments sent from Ohtani's bank account to Mizuhara's bookie, Mathew Bowyer. This new report reveals for the first time what Bowyer did with the money once he received it. Seemingly to avoid scrutiny over large payments, the wires the bookmaking operation received were "forwarded to California and Las Vegas casinos, where the money was deposited in gambling accounts, converted to playing chips and later cashed out to pay the bookie," according to Thompson.

Essentially, "Mizuhara paid his losses to Bowyer's associate, who forwarded the money to his own "marker" accounts at Resorts World and Pechanga Resort Casino in Southern California. The men then withdrew chips from the marker account, gambled with them, and if they won, cashed out."

Thompson reported that sources told her that Bowyer, 49, "lost $7.9 million at Resorts World from June 2022 to October 2023."

So Bowyer used gambling losses from bettors to gamble in Las Vegas, and lost nearly $8 million in the process. 

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara arrive to a game against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch on February 27, 2024. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Federal authorities have,