Shohei Ohtani is getting the Hollywood therapy, simply not how he or the Dodgers dreamed when he signed a $700 million contract within the offseason. As a substitute, the two-way famous person would be the topic of a scripted TV sequence about his good friend and former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who stole virtually $17 million from him to repay unlawful playing money owed, Lionsgate Tv introduced Thursday.
Tony Award winner and producer Scott Delman, who has credit on Broadway exhibits from “Imply Women” to “The Guide of Mormon” in addition to serving as government producer on “Station Eleven,” and former Sports activities Illustrated reporter Albert Chen, writer of the sports activities playing e book “Billion Greenback Fantasy,” are behind the untitled undertaking.
“That is Main League Baseball’s greatest sports activities playing scandal since Pete Rose – and at its heart is its greatest star, one which MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Chen mentioned in a press release. “We’ll get to the guts of the story – a narrative of belief, betrayal and the trimmings of wealth and fame.”
The announcement comes a day after the Division of Justice introduced that Mizuhara has agreed to plead responsible to 1 rely of financial institution fraud and one rely of subscribing to a false tax return. Mizuhara, who served as Ohtani’s interpreter with the Angels and the Dodgers earlier than being fired on the primary day of the 2024 MLB season, used his entry to Ohtani’s financial institution accounts to repay thousands and thousands of {dollars} owed to a bootleg bookmaker in California, the place sports activities betting is illegitimate. Based on prosecutors, after going to a Phoenix financial institution with Ohtani to open a checking account, Mizuhara modified the safety protocols on the account so financial institution workers would name him, slightly than Ohtani, with any questions. Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani in calls with financial institution workers at the least 24 occasions, based on the U.S Legal professional’s Workplace for the Central District of California.
Mizuhara additionally used Ohtani’s accounts to purchase $325,000 price of baseball playing cards on eBay and different on-line resellers so as to flip them and revenue himself. In September 2023, Ohtani agreed to pay for Mizuhara’s $60,000 dental work and offered him with a examine. As a substitute, based on prosecutors, Mizuhara paid the invoice with Ohtani’s debit card and deposited the examine into his private account.
Prosecutors have labeled Ohtani a sufferer and mentioned he had no function in Mizuhara’s playing.
“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is very large,” United States Legal professional Martin Estrada mentioned in a press release Wednesday. “He took benefit of his place of belief to benefit from Mr. Ohtani and gasoline a harmful playing behavior. My workplace is dedicated to vindicating victims all through our neighborhood and guaranteeing that wrongdoers face justice.”
Mizuhara faces a most sentence of 33 years in jail, 5 years of supervised launch and a wonderful of $1,250,000. He will even required to pay full restitution to his victims, which incorporates $16,975,010 to Ohtani, and $1,149,400 to the IRS for mendacity on his 2022 tax return.
