Baseball star Ohtani's ex-interpreter pleads guilty to bank fraud

SANTA ANA, California (Reuters) -- Japanese baseball great Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing nearly $17 million from the athlete's bank account to pay off his own gambling debts, according to U.S. prosecutors.

Ippei Mizuhara, the onetime translator and de facto manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers' power-hitting pitcher, pleaded guilty in a deal that had been announced last month, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney said. Sentencing will be on Oct. 25.

Mizuhara's lawyer declined to comment.

A 33-page record of the deal, in which Mizuhara, 39, agreed to plead guilty to one count of felony bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, was previously filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

A federal bank fraud conviction carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, with the tax offense punishable by up to three years behind bars.

Ohtani, in a written statement, said that he was thankful to the authorities for "their thorough and effective investigation."

"It's time to close this chapter, move on and continue to focus on playing and winning ballgames," he said.

Mizuhara was accused of embezzling nearly $17 million from a bank account of Ohtani's that Mizuhara had helped open in Phoenix in 2018 and transferring the funds without the ballplayer's knowledge to an illegal bookmaking operation to cover Mizuhara's gambling debts.

Announcing the original bank fraud charge on April 11, U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada stressed there was nothing to suggest wrongdoing by Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract to join the Dodgers this season, becoming the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball.

Ohtani, 29, whose talents as a slugger and a pitcher