LOS ANGELES, May 01 (News On Japan) - In the case where Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter was prosecuted for making unauthorized transfers from Ohtani's account, it has been revealed that the mastermind behind the illegal gambling had converted the received money into cash at casinos.
Kazuhiro Mizuhara is facing charges of bank fraud for illegally transferring over $16 million (approximately 2.5 billion yen) from Ohtani's bank account for gambling purposes.
According to ESPN on April 30th, subsequent investigations revealed that the gambling operators had converted about $500,000 (approximately 78 million yen) of this money into casino chips at venues such as Las Vegas, enjoyed playing, and then cashed out when they won.
Mizuhara lost over $7.9 million (about 1.2 billion yen) in casinos over a year starting June 2022, and it is possible that some of Ohtani's money was used in these losses.
Law enforcement authorities are continuing their investigation into the gambling operators, suspecting money laundering activities involving the use of casinos.
Source: ANN
