ESPN has put fresh fuel on the Shohei Ohtani gambling saga, releasing audio that captures former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara impersonating the Dodgers star in a phone call to authorize a $200,000 transfer.
The recording comes from ESPN’s new 30 for 30 podcast series, “The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani,” and it pulls the case back into the spotlight more than two years after the call was made in February 2022. On the audio, Mizuhara speaks as if he is Ohtani while trying to get the money sent to bookmaker Mathew Bowyer’s account.
The exchange is blunt and unsettling. When the bank agent asks, “Who am I speaking with?”
Mizuhara answers, “Shohei Ohtani.” He then says, “So I tried to log in to online banking, and it tells me that it’s not available to me at this time and try to call.”
When the agent asks for the payee and the amount, Mizuhara replies, “It’s for $200,000.” Asked why the transfer is being made, he says it is “for a car loan.”
And when the agent asks about his relationship to the payee, Mizuhara says, “He’s my friend.”
Mizuhara stole more than $16 million from Ohtani’s accounts overall and used the money for massive sports betting. He was sentenced to 57 months in prison in 2025 and ordered to repay the full amount.
Ohtani has maintained he knew nothing about the thefts, and Major League Baseball cleared him of any wrongdoing. Bowyer, meanwhile, has said he believes Ohtani knew about the gambling activity, while also saying Ohtani himself never placed the bets.
The podcast will include Mizuhara speaking publicly for the first time since his sentencing. Early trailers already show him confirming he gave permission to record an interview. The series is set to dig into the case from multiple angles, with the first two episodes arriving July 28.
The numbers around the betting operation were enormous. Mizuhara won roughly $142 million through the bets but lost about $183 million. A Las Vegas casino later was fined $10.5 million tied to the money-laundering side of the case.
For a story that had started to fade, the audio brings it roaring back. The public now gets to hear the deception in Mizuhara’s own voice.
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