Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani firmly denied placing any sports betting wagers or making payments to a bookmaker on behalf of his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara on Monday.

“I am very saddened and shocked someone I trusted has done this,” he said at the beginning of his statement. “I have never bet on baseball or any other sports or asked someone to do it on my behalf. I have never gone through a bookmaker to bet on sports. Up until a couple of days ago, I did not know this was happening.

“In conclusion, what has been going on is that Ipeei has been stealing money from my account and told lies.”

Sports Handle left a voicemail with Ohtani’s attorney on Monday evening. Representatives for Ohtani did not immediately return the call.

Speaking in his native Japanese with a different interpreter at his side in Los Angeles, Ohtani read from a statement for slightly more than 10 minutes detailing the chain of events that led to his learning of Mizuhara’s gambling debts — a total of at least $4.5 million according to media reports — and payments via wire transfer to a bookmaker.

Those payments are now part of a federal investigation into a Southern California bookmaking operation as well as a “formal process” investigation by Major League Baseball. A single count of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Ohtani said that while the Dodgers were conducting part of their spring training in South Korea last week, a member of the media reached out to a “representative in my camp inquiring about my potential involvement in sports betting.” He explained Mizuhara never revealed the inquiry to either him or his representatives, and that Mizuhara then “told the media and my representatives that I… on behalf of a friend, paid off debt.”

After further questioning, Ohtani indicated that Mizuhara revealed he was the person in debt. Ohtani’s tone in his native Japanese turned sharper, saying that Mizuhara “told my representatives I was paying off that debt.” He added that “all of this has been a complete lie.”

Ohtani said he did not know about Mizuhara’s gambling activity until after the Dodgers’ first regular-season game in South Korea, a 5-2 win over the Padres on March 20th. According to Ohtani, Mizuhara spoke to Dodgers’ players in English-only during a team meeting in the clubhouse. The Dodgers’ slugger noted that he did not have a translator with him at that moment, but added he, “kind of felt something was amiss.”

Following the clubhouse meeting, Ohtani indicated that he went back to a Seoul hotel for a private conversation with Mizuhara. It was then the two-time American League MVP claims he learned of the “massive debt.” During the conversation, Ohtani also claimed it was the first he learned that Mizuhara fraudulently used his account to send money to a bookmaker.

The alleged bookmaker in question is Matt Bowyer, a longtime Las Vegas sports bettor. According to ESPN, an individual with access to Ohtani’s bank account sent two wire transfer payments of $500,000 each to a Bowyer associate last fall. The first was disseminated last September, with the subsequent payment sent weeks later, ESPN reported. In a subsequent interview with ESPN, Mizuhara claimed that he sent several other payments to an associate of the bookmaker.

— Sports Handle (@sports_handle) March 21, 2024

According to one source who spoke with Sports Handle on the condition of anonymity, Bowyer was prohibited from entering the Resorts World Las Vegas sportsbook last October. The ban apparently came shortly after federal law enforcement raided his home in Southern California. During the search, law enforcement seized millions of dollars in cash, multiple sources told Sports Handle.

It was not the first time Bowyer had his home searched by the feds, according to a confidential source. Last week, the source told Sports Handle that Bowyer has been on the radar of federal authorities for at least five years. While federal law enforcement searched Bowyer’s home around 2019, authorities did not gather enough evidence of illegal bookmaking to charge the bettor with a federal crime, the source explained.

After the hotel conversation, Ohtani indicated that he informed his representatives that Mizuhara had allegedly been “lying the whole time.” Reiterating last week’s reports, Ohtani noted that he has been advised by his legal team of the allegations of theft against his former interpreter. The Japanese hitter also announced Monday that he will cooperate with law enforcement on the matter.

He then repeated his denials that he never bet on sports or “willfully sent money to a bookmaker.” Ohtani added he felt “beyond shock” and that “it’s hard to verbalize how I’m feeling at this point.”

— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) March 25, 2024

Ohtani, a two-position superstar as both pitcher and designated hitter, signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers this offseason after spending the first six seasons of his MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani deferred $680 million of the salary until his contract expires in 2033, giving the high-spending Dodgers flexibility as they usually pay the luxury tax for exceeding MLB’s soft salary cap.