Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud on Tuesday and admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off sports betting debts.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Mr. Mitsuhara, please say a few words.
00:03 Please wait. I'll go in and talk to him.
00:08 Please wait.
00:10 As you saw earlier this morning, the defendant in this case, Mr. Mitsuhara, went before a judge and admitted his guilt in this case.
00:20 As we told all of you a couple months ago, this case was thoroughly investigated, thoroughly vetted,
00:28 and we came to the conclusion, based on the evidence, that Mr. Mitsuhara had committed a massive fraud,
00:35 and that fraud was committed against the one victim in this case, who is Shohei Otani.
00:42 In fact, after we announced the charges, we only discovered more fraud in this case.
00:48 We discovered Mr. Mitsuhara had victimized Mr. Otani to the extent that he wouldn't even pay for dental fees.
00:56 He stole money from Mr. Otani to pay for his own dental expenses.
01:01 The fraud was deep, and the fraud was extensive.
01:05 Well, now you've seen Mr. Mitsuhara has gone before a federal judge.
01:10 He's stated under oath that he was fully responsible for this fraud.
01:15 He's accepted his responsibility. He's admitted to his guilt.
01:20 And we will proceed to sentencing in this case and finally bring vindication to the victim,
01:25 but also the larger community that demands we address these types of fraud cases aggressively and with justice in mind.
01:33 We have not decided what we will seek at sentencing.
01:36 We will provide information to the court.
01:38 As many of you know, the court is ultimately responsible for the sentence in this case,
01:44 but we will provide full information to the court so it can make a reasoned decision.
01:48 30 years in theory, based on what he has pled to.
01:52 However, I will note that we are guided by what is known as the sentencing guidelines,
01:57 and those guidelines may call for a lesser sentence.
02:00 That being said, based on the extent of the conduct here, the sentence would likely be one that calls for incarceration.
02:06 I think there is a major message from this case, but I wouldn't limit it to Major League Baseball players.
02:12 I would extend it to our entire community.
02:14 Fraud of this sort, fraud by people who have the confidence of others,
02:18 is rampant in our community, in our nation.
02:22 We see elder abuse all the time in similar situations.
02:26 We see all kinds of people being abused by lawyers, people who have their trust and confidence,
02:32 and everyone needs to be aware.
02:34 They should be suspicious.
02:36 They should take precautions when they have others managing their money and managing their affairs.
02:40 I will say Mr. Otani is an immigrant, came to this country, is not familiar with the ways of this country,
02:47 and therefore was easily prey to someone who is more familiar with our financial systems,
02:52 and was able to take advantage of Mr. Otani.
02:55 Based on the conduct he is pleaded guilty to, he faces significant immigration consequences.
03:01 I will not get into predictions of what will ultimately happen,
03:04 but he certainly faces a risk of deportation, back to Japan, and having to leave this country and go to Japan.