There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Caleb Newquist: Four time all star Justin Upton called him the most talented player I've ever seen. Espn First Take host Stephen A Smith said he's not just the modern day Babe Ruth. He's better than Babe Ruth because of the competition he's facing. And New York Yankees Hall of Famer and baseball legend Derek Jeter probably put it best. It's tough enough to just be a great hitter or an offensive player, or to be a great pitcher. For him to be able to do both is pretty remarkable. I can't relate to it. You run out of adjectives [00:00:30] to describe him.

Earmark CPE: If you'd like to earn CPE credit for listening to this episode, visit earmark Cpcomm. Download the app, take a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate. Continuing education has never been so easy. And now on to the episode.

Caleb Newquist: Hello and welcome to Oh My Fraud, a show where the criminals aren't trying to build wealth. They're just [00:01:00] trying to win it back. I'm Caleb Newquist. How's it going? Is everybody good? Uh, is everybody being good? Uh, since the beginning of this podcast, we've focused a lot on, uh, reading listener reviews. And let me just say here and now that that was a mistake. We've gotten lots and lots of emails over the years that are totally worthy of airtime. And so, on behalf of the show, let me just say I am sorry for the oversight and I [00:01:30] will. I will do my best to, uh, reconcile my, my, my past transgressions by reading an email right now that we recently received. And, uh, so here it is. Uh, Caleb, I just have a quick funny I have to share with you. I'm currently listening to episode 46, where you guys explain a ten key calculator and running a tape on it. To listeners, I am dying laughing because state and local folks are still doing that. I worked in administration [00:02:00] for a state parks department for six years before moving on to local government as a finance specialist, and I would absolutely die without my adding machine. It is my lifeline. P.s. I'm 30 years old and graduated from college in 2016. Adding machines are not dead. But my previous coworker that is over 50 did have to teach me how to use it lol. I love the podcast and have enjoyed going back and listening to older episodes to play catch up every chance I get.

Caleb Newquist: Keep cussing. Emma. [00:02:30] Uh, that's a great email, Emma. Thanks and see. There you go. If you write an email like that, I will totally read it. And I'm really happy to hear that ten keys are still thriving out there, thanks to good people like Emma. Sadly, I'm sure there are people out there who are using their ten keys for evil, as we talked about in episode 46. Anyway, if you want me to read your ode to your ten key or just say hey. Yeah, I still, uh, still use it. Still use it right here. It's [00:03:00] right on my desk. Email me at my fraud@earmarks.com. Also, just a reminder that Greg Kite and I will be at the new Jersey society of CPAs Convention and Expo on June 5th in Atlantic City. It's at the Borgata Hotel and Casino. We'll be doing a little presentation. Should be fun. Come check us out. Say hi. There's a link to the convention's website in the show notes if you want to register. I have no idea [00:03:30] if non-New Jersey CPAs can go or if non CPAs can go for that matter, but maybe it's worth a shot if you want to sneak in and, you know, crash the party with a bunch of accountants in Atlantic City, we'd love to see you. So know that, uh, we are also available for conferences, in-house trainings, webinars, whatever you like. If you prefer that dynamic, which amounts to loosely controlled chaos, uh, email me and we can talk about it.

Caleb Newquist: Oh, my. Fraud at earmarks. Com to get information [00:04:00] on pricing and availability. Yeah. Do that. Okay. That's all the business. Shall we get to the show? Yes. Here's the show. The world of high stakes illegal gambling thrives in the shadows, behind locked doors and whispered phone calls and through untraceable digital transactions. [00:04:30] It's a world where fortunes are made and lost in the span of a single game. Where the right bet can turn a nobody into a millionaire. And the wrong one can leave even the wealthiest bettor in financial ruin. For most sports, betting is a casual pastime something to make a Sunday football game more exciting, or add a little skin to your March Madness bracket. But at the highest levels, it's something else entirely. $1 billion underground industry run by offshore websites, unlicensed bookies and [00:05:00] middlemen who operate just outside the reach of the law. And in this world, when someone gets in too deep, when the debts spiral out of control and the money has to come from somewhere, it doesn't just ruin lives. It can take down empires. According to the American Gaming Association, Americans legally wagered $148 billion on sports in 2024. Jeez, that's a lot. $148 billion. That's so much money in 2023. It was only 121 billion [00:05:30] only. It was a lot of money. But that's a that's impressive growth. Let's just put it that way. Uh, this resulted in over $13 billion in legal sports betting revenue.

Caleb Newquist: That is that's still a lot of money. But know this. A report conducted by Yield Desk and commissioned by the campaign for Fairer Gambling, found that revenue earned by illegal bookmakers was nearly $41 billion. Yes, despite [00:06:00] the relentless advertising blitz of the new online sportsbooks, the off the book bookies still have plenty of customers. Matthew Bowyer wasn't always one of the biggest illegal bookmakers in the country, long before his name became linked to one of the most shocking gambling scandals in sports history. He was a failed businessman, a [00:06:30] gambler in deep debt and a man desperate for a way out. According to The Washington Post, Bowyer filed for bankruptcy in 2011, claiming he had lost $425,000 gambling in Las Vegas over the previous two years. His extermination business, tap out Exterminators had collapsed, leaving him with more than $2 million in liabilities, including over $500,000 in personal loans. Despite the financial ruin, Boyer kept gambling. Applying [00:07:00] for $1.2 million in casino credit at Foxwoods Resort in 2015, a debt that would still be pursued in court. Nearly a decade later, as Boyer clawed his way back, his name began surfacing in high stakes gambling circles. In 2019, Florida sheriff's deputies intercepted two packages, both disguised as Yahtzee board game boxes containing over $200,000 in cash. One of them was addressed to Boyer's sprawling home in California. [00:07:30] The money was linked to an underground gambling ring with alleged ties to organized crime, but Boyer was never charged.

Caleb Newquist: By then, Boyer had fully immersed himself in the gambling underworld. He ran his bookmaking operation through offshore websites and call centers in Costa Rica, offering high rollers and professional athletes, something that legal sportsbooks couldn't unlimited credit and secrecy. His network grew rapidly. At its peak, he had over 700 active bettors and [00:08:00] over $100 million flowing through his operation. Despite his past struggles, Boyer had transformed himself from a bankrupt bettor into a kingpin of illegal sports gambling. But the House doesn't always win. By 2024, Boyer's operation had drawn the attention of federal law enforcement, especially on one of his most reckless clients. And when you're dealing with high profile clients, their losses can be extreme. One of Boyer's clients would eventually place a staggering 19,000 bets [00:08:30] over just a few years, waging astronomical sums that would ultimately lead to one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. For federal investigators, illegal gambling rings aren't uncommon in the early and mid 20th century, organized crime became deeply involved in illegal gambling, and although their influence and power has waned, illegal gambling options have evolved and continue to [00:09:00] be available alongside legal gambling today. Underground bookmaking operations exist in every major city, often flying under the radar for years, but every so often one grows too big, moves too much money, and attracts the wrong kind of attention. In early 2023, law enforcement started looking into Matthew Bowyer. This wasn't Bowyer's first run in with the law. The Los Angeles Times reported, quote, Bowyer has appeared in numerous court filings over the years.

Caleb Newquist: That includes a $1.75 million [00:09:30] judgment against him for defaulting on a line of credit. A marker, in gambling parlance issued to him by Foxwood Resorts Casino, a tribal gambling hall in Connecticut. A tribal court imposed the judgment in April 2019. An attorney for the casino filed an application to enter the judgment in Orange County Superior Court in May 2023. The casino's attorney said the judgment has not been satisfied. Also, the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas alleged in a lawsuit filed [00:10:00] in July 2011 that Boyer bounced a $250,000 check. The case was dismissed six months later. At first, it was a routine financial investigation into Boyer, one of many that federal agents combed through in their search for money laundering, tax fraud and organized crime. But the deeper they dug, the bigger the operation seemed, according to the LA times. The investigation involved the same prosecution team that has targeted a multi-million dollar illegal sports gambling scheme anchored in Orange County. [00:10:30] According to the times sources and court records, at least a dozen people have been charged in that wider probe, including x Los Angeles Dodger Yasiel Puig, who has pleaded not guilty. That centered on a bookmaking operation led by former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix of Newport Beach. This wasn't just a small time bookie taking bets from casual gamblers. The network had hundreds of clients, including wealthy professionals and even former and current pro athletes. And the money in play wasn't pocket change. [00:11:00]

Caleb Newquist: Tens of millions of dollars were changing hands, much of it moving through offshore betting websites based in Costa Rica. But what really caught their attention was a single gambler, someone whose losses had reached staggering levels. Someone who was desperately trying to pay off their debt by any means necessary. At the time, investigators didn't know where the money was coming from. But as they traced the transactions, it became clear this wasn't just about illegal gambling anymore. [00:11:30] It was about fraud. The world had never seen anything quite like Shohei Ohtani. Baseball has always been a game of specialists. You have your pitchers aces who dominate from the mound but are automatic outs when they step up to the plate. Then you have your sluggers, powerhouses who send balls soaring over fences but wouldn't dare take the mound. [00:12:00] The last player who truly excelled at both was Babe Ruth, and that was over a century ago. But then came Ohtani, a once in a generation talent who shattered the sport's conventions. Tom Verducci, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, put it best Ohtani is doing something we haven't seen since Babe Ruth, and he's doing it at a higher level. That was no exaggeration. If Ruth was a measuring stick. Ohtani had raised the bar. Not only [00:12:30] was he a dominant force on the mound, but he could step up to the plate and be just as dangerous, if not more so, than the game's best hitters. Born in Oshu, Japan, in 1994, Ohtani was a baseball prodigy from the start.

Caleb Newquist: He had a fastball that could touch 100mph as a teenager, and a bat that could send balls rocketing into the stands. By the time he debuted in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, scouts from Major League Baseball were already circling. He was a phenom, [00:13:00] and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before he made his way to the biggest stage in the world. In 2018, that moment came. Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels, making an immediate impact. He could do what no one else in modern baseball could throw 100 mile per hour fastballs and crush towering home runs in the same night. He was named American League Rookie of the year, but that was just the beginning. Over the next few seasons, he defied logic, putting up numbers that had never been [00:13:30] seen before. He won two MVP awards, was named to multiple all star teams, and his momentum couldn't be stopped. He became the face of baseball. Brad Ausmus, a former baseball manager, once said of him, quote, he wants to be the greatest baseball player ever, so he does everything he can to try to achieve that goal. End of quote. And it showed Ohtani was relentless, constantly refining his craft, pushing himself to new heights. His work ethic was legendary, but so was his physicality. As [00:14:00] two time all star pitcher Carlos Rodon put it, if you see him walking around, he's built like a Greek god.

Caleb Newquist: Then in 2023, he made history again, signing a $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the largest in the history of professional baseball at that time. It was the ultimate validation of his unparalleled ability, a recognition that baseball had never seen a player quite like him. But for all his dominance on the field, there was one area where Ohtani wasn't as confident speaking [00:14:30] English. He could understand some, and he was working on it. But the pressure of interviews, media appearances and team communication was a challenge. So from the moment he arrived in the United States, he relied on someone who had become more than just an interpreter, someone who would be by his side every day handling his words, helping him navigate his new life and eventually gaining his absolute trust. For most foreign players entering [00:15:00] Major League Baseball, adjusting to life in the United States is an uphill battle. The language barrier, cultural differences, and media scrutiny can be overwhelming. But for Shohei Ohtani, there was Ippei Mizuhara. Born on December 31st, 1984, in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan, Mizuhara moved to the United States in 1991 when he was seven years old. His father, [00:15:30] Hiromasa, a chef, relocated the family to the Los Angeles area to pursue culinary opportunities. These growing up in Diamond Bar, a city in eastern Los Angeles County. Mizuhara attended Diamond Bar High School, where he was active in sports, particularly soccer and basketball. Fluent in both Japanese and English, Mizuhara's bicultural upbringing positioned him well for a career bridging the two cultures. [00:16:00]

Caleb Newquist: In 2013, he was hired by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham fighters to translate for English speaking players, which is when he first met Shohei Ohtani. Their professional relationship deepened over the years, and when Ohtani transitioned to Major League Baseball in 2017, signing with the Los Angeles Angels, Mizuhara was brought on board as his personal interpreter. The two quickly became inseparable. Mizuhara wasn't just Ohtani's voice in interviews, he was his closest confidant, [00:16:30] personal assistant, and in many ways, his best friend in America. Wherever Ohtani went, Mitsuharu was by his side at the ballpark, at restaurants, even during high profile events. He handled logistics, managed media requests, and helped Ohtani navigate life in a foreign country. Teammates, reporters, and fans all noticed how close they were. Mitsuharu was seen as more than just an interpreter. He was family. Some even joked that he had the best job in baseball, [00:17:00] traveling with one of the greatest athletes in the world, staying in five star hotels and enjoying the perks of an MLB lifestyle without having to pay. And Ohtani trusted him completely. That trust would eventually be shattered, but at the time, no one not Ohtani, not the Dodgers, not the media had any reason to question Ippei Mizuhara. On March 20th, 2024, [00:17:30] just as the Dodgers were preparing to open their season in a special series in South Korea, a bombshell story dropped. The Los Angeles Times reported that Shohei Ohtani's name had surfaced in a federal investigation into an illegal sports gambling ring.

Caleb Newquist: The details were scarce, but one thing was clear millions of dollars had been wired from Ohtani's account to a suspected bookmaker. Who is that suspected bookmaker? Matthew Boyer. The news sent shockwaves [00:18:00] through the sports world. Ohtani, the biggest star in baseball, the man who had just signed a record breaking $700 million contract, was suddenly linked to a federal gambling probe. Speculation ran wild. Was he gambling? Was he in debt? Did he know what was happening? The Dodgers, Ohtani's representatives and Major League Baseball scrambled to respond. Within hours, lawyers were issuing statements. Reporters were digging for answers and fans were holding their breath. Something was very wrong, [00:18:30] but no one knew exactly what. Before, the full extent of what happened was publicly known. Ip gave an interview to ESPN trying to control the narrative. In that conversation, he made a shocking claim IP was addicted to gambling, and Ohtani had willingly paid off millions in IP gambling debts. Obviously, he wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again, Mitsuhira said. He decided to pay it off for me. [00:19:00] I want everyone to know that Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again. The statement raised more questions than answers. Why would baseball's biggest star be involved in paying off gambling debts? Was IP taking the fall for him and what exactly was being bet on? It was a desperate attempt to deflect blame, but it quickly [00:19:30] unraveled.

Caleb Newquist: Soon after Ohtani's camp strongly denied the claim and the truth began to emerge. Ippei had been lying. The money transfers were not a favor from Ohtani. They were theft. As we said earlier, Ippei Mizuhara had access to a world most could only dream of private jets, five star hotels, [00:20:00] front row seats to the biggest baseball games on the planet. But he wasn't the one making millions. He was just the interpreter, the middleman, the guy in the background. His reported salary was a meager $300,000 a year, and he felt like he was being underpaid. Yes, you heard that right. $300,000 for a translator. Not to mention he wasn't paying for any of the lifestyle benefits that came with the job seeking excitement and perhaps a sense of even more financial [00:20:30] independence. Mitsuharu turned to gambling. He claims he first met bookmaker Matthew Boyer while playing poker games, where he suffered significant losses. These defeats propelled him to attempt recouping his losses through sports betting. Unfortunately for IP, he sucked at it. It started small, just $50 bets here and there. But as his addiction got worse, IPS volume and amount of money wagered dramatically increased. He wasn't just [00:21:00] placing the occasional bet, he was betting hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time, chasing wins that never came. He bet on everything from college football, international soccer, NBA and even MLB games.

Caleb Newquist: Convinced that the next big win would save him. But of course, the house always wins and Mitsuhiro was drowning in massive losses. As he continued to lose, he desperately begged Boyer for more and more credit as his debt spiraled. The bookmaker [00:21:30] provided Mitsuhiro with unprecedented credit limits up to $5 million per Major League Baseball game. Mitsuhiro texted Boyer in June 2023, can I get one last bump? This one is for real, last one for real, only to ask again the next day when his debt soared into the millions. Mizuhara assured the bookmaker, you don't have to worry about me not paying, even swore on his own mother that his next request for credit would be his last. Of [00:22:00] course it wasn't. By late 2023, his situation had reached a breaking point. Boyer demanded a $2 million payment, pressing Mizuhara to settle his debts. But Mizuhara didn't have the money. I'm trying my best, but I just don't have it right now, he admitted in a text message. Between September 2021 and January 2024, Mizuhara had placed a staggering 19,000 bets. That's not a casual habit. That's an obsession. Just [00:22:30] think about that. In 29 months, he made 19,000 bets. Just to keep it simple. Let's assume he made his first bet on September 1st of 2021, and his last bet on January 31st of 2024. That's 882 days. He made 19,000 wagers. That's an average of 21 bets per day. Every day, that's one bet per hour for 882 days.

Caleb Newquist: That is betting all [00:23:00] day, every day. In that time, he had winning bets totaling at least $142 million. But the losing bets, they came out to $182 million. That left him with a $40 million hole, scrambling for a way out. And that's when things took a dark turn. Because Ippei Mizuhara didn't have $40 million and he was out of options. But he did have something else. Unfettered [00:23:30] access to Shohei Ohtani's bank accounts. If he stole from his best friend and boss, Shohei Ohtani, Mizuhara's integration into Ohtani's inner circle began in 2018, when the two way phenom joined the Los Angeles Angels as Ohtani's English language interpreter. Mizuhara quickly evolved into a de facto manager, handling everything from media interactions to daily errands. This [00:24:00] trust extended to financial matters when Mizuhara facilitated the opening of a Bank of America account in Arizona during Ohtani's rookie season, serving as a linguistic intermediary during the account setup process. By 2021, Mizuhara had consolidated control over Ohtani's financial infrastructure. He intentionally excluded other professional advisers, including the player's agent, accountant, and financial planner from accessing the account, citing [00:24:30] Ohtani's supposed desire for privacy. This strategic isolation allowed Matsuura to manipulate account security protocols undetected, replacing Ohtani's contact information with his own anonymous email and phone number. When the banks flagged the massive wire transfers and needed verification, Mizuhara took an even bolder step. He impersonated Ohtani himself. He didn't just forge documents or send fake emails. He called the bank, [00:25:00] faking Ohtani's voice to authorize the transactions. And somehow it worked.

Bank Teller: Thank you for calling my .

Bank Teller: This call may be monitored and recorded. Who am I speaking with?

Ippei Mizuhara: Shohei Ohtani.

Bank Teller: Thank you. How may I help you?

Ippei Mizuhara: Well, I tried to log in to online banking, and it tells me that it's not available to me [00:25:30] at this time, and I need to call.

Bank Teller: Sure, I can take a look into that. I can take a look into that for you. Okay. It'll be just one moment, please, while I access your account.

Ippei Mizuhara: Okay. I tried to make a wire transfer a couple of days ago. They told me that that's probably the reason. So they transferred me to this number.

Bank Teller: Okay. So I'm going to send a one time authorization code to your text messaging. Can you provide me with that six digit code when it become [00:26:00] available?

Ippei Mizuhara: Yes.

Bank Teller: Okay.

Ippei Mizuhara: It's for $200,000.

Bank Teller: Alrighty. Now, recently, we come across a trend of fraud and scams. So we have been monitoring the online transactions closely to make sure our clients are not the victim of either. What is the reason for this transaction?

Ippei Mizuhara: For a car loan?

Bank Teller: Okay. You said it's for a car loan.

Ippei Mizuhara: Yes.

Bank Teller: Okay. What is your relationship to [00:26:30] the payee?

Ippei Mizuhara: Oh, he's my friend.

Bank Teller: All righty. If I can ask you to bear with me just a few moments, I'm going to take a look into getting this resolved for you. And you'll hear silence as I'm working on this. Okay?

Ippei Mizuhara: Okay.

Bank Teller: Thank you.

Caleb Newquist: Bank records show Mitsuhira had made 24 separate phone calls impersonating Ohtani to authorize wire transfers, including the recording. You just heard, where he falsified a $200,000 transaction [00:27:00] as a car loan. But if he wasn't just stealing Ohtani's money to gamble, he even had another scheme worked up. The US Attorney's office claims that Mizuhara also used the same account to buy around 1000 baseball cards for approximately $325,000 through eBay and whatnot. And I'm not just using that term to refer to unspecified websites. Whatnot is actually a live shopping marketplace. [00:27:30] I had never heard of it. Anyway, eBay was having the baseball card shipped to the Dodgers clubhouse under the alias Jay Min. Now, sources differ on what the point of this was. Some claimed that it was just to make more money. Another claim that it was for deniability for some of the money missing in Shohei's accounts. Between 2021 and 2024, Mizuhara siphoned nearly $17 [00:28:00] million from Ohtani's account, using it to fund his gambling addiction. The stolen money was being wired directly to Matthew Boyer. For years, the fraud continued unchecked. The money kept flowing. The losing wagers kept piling up, and Mizuhara maintained his double life. Still by Ohtani's side. Still appearing as his closest friend while secretly draining his accounts to fuel an addiction he couldn't control. The [00:28:30] crack of Shohei Ohtani's bat sends baseball soaring over outfield walls, but the crack in baseballs foundation has always been gambling.

Caleb Newquist: When the Ohtani Mizuhara scandal broke, it reopened old wounds that the sport has been trying to heal for over a century. In 1919, eight Chicago White Sox players, including the renowned Shoeless Joe Jackson, conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series. The [00:29:00] Black Sox scandal, as it became known, nearly destroyed America's pastime. The betrayal was so severe that baseball appointed its first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, whose primary mission was clear eliminate Gambling's influence on the sport and to have the most kick ass name in the history of names. His first major act banning all eight players for life, even those whose involvement was minimal. The message was carved into baseball's bedrock. Gambling [00:29:30] meant permanent exile. Every clubhouse in America had the same stark warning posted on its walls any player, umpire or club or league official or employee who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible. For decades, those words served as both warning and promise. Then came Pete Rose, baseball's all time hits leader, was [00:30:00] the game's ultimate competitor, Charlie Hustle. They called him. But 1989 an investigation revealed that Rose had bet on baseball games, including ones he managed despite his protests, despite his status as one of the game's legends. The punishment was swift and absolute.

Caleb Newquist: Permanent banishment from baseball to this day. Even after his death, the games hits. King remains outside looking in, ineligible for the Hall of Fame. This history made [00:30:30] the Ohtani scandal particularly explosive. When news broke that millions had moved from his account to a bookmaker. Baseball held its collective breath. The sport could handle murder scandals, doping scandals, even cheating scandals. But gambling that was different, that was existential. By 2024, Major League Baseball had fully embraced the gambling industry. It once fought so hard against DraftKings [00:31:00] logos decorated outfield walls, betting odds scrawled across stadium scoreboards. The very act that got Pete Rose banned was now being actively promoted between innings. What changed? Money, mostly. When the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, the floodgates opened. Sports betting became legal in state after state. Rather than fight the tide, Major League Baseball dove in head first, signing [00:31:30] lucrative partnerships with betting companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But the sport tried to maintain a careful balance. Players, coaches and team personnel were still strictly prohibited from betting on baseball. The rules remain clear. You could bet on other sports, but baseball was absolutely off limits. The ghosts of 1919 still haunted the commissioner's office, which is why, when Ohtani's name appeared in gambling investigation documents, the [00:32:00] sports powerbrokers broke into cold sweats. If baseball's biggest star, its first billion dollar player was involved in gambling, the damage would be incalculable.

Caleb Newquist: There was a collective sigh of relief from baseball when Ohtani was cleared, he hadn't bet on anything. He was a victim, not a perpetrator. Baseball had dodged a bullet. Betting on baseball, the sport's deepest taboo, made Mizuhara's betrayal feel worse, more [00:32:30] personal. He hadn't just stolen money. He'd reopened baseball's oldest wound. His actions felt like a direct assault on the sport's integrity, echoing the very scandals that had shaped baseball's strict anti-gambling stance. As the sport moves forward trying to balance its gambling partnerships with its gambling prohibitions. The Ohtani Mizuhara scandal serves as a warning. Baseball's relationship with betting may have evolved, but its power to destroy careers, [00:33:00] legacies and lives remains unchanged. Just ask Pete Rose or the 1919 White Sox, or now Ippei Mizuhara. Some demons, it seems, never truly go away. They just changed their uniform. Ippei Mizuhara's gambling addiction didn't just cost him money, it cost him everything. Once the FBI had [00:33:30] enough evidence, he was charged with bank fraud and wire fraud and was facing up to 30 years in prison. In the end, on June 4th, 2024, he pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud. In February 2025, he was sentenced to 57 months, nearly five years behind bars. The 57 month sentence reflected both the premeditated nature of the fraud and Mizuhara's lack of prior gambling treatment.

Caleb Newquist: Restitution orders included $16.7 million to Otani and $1.1 [00:34:00] million to the IRS for unpaid taxes on stolen funds. Matthew Boyer, the illegal bookie at the center of the operation, also faces legal consequences. In August 2024, he pleaded guilty to operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering and subscribing to a false tax return and faces many years in prison. As of this recording, he is still awaiting sentencing. As for Shohei Ohtani, he was cleared of any wrongdoing. The investigation confirmed that he [00:34:30] had no knowledge of the theft and that he had never placed a bet himself. Still, the scandal put his name in headlines for all the wrong reasons. Conspiracy theorists still like to believe Shohei was involved in the gambling. How could he not have been? Even Matthew Boyer thought he was. After the story broke. Mizuhara asked Boyer if he had seen the media reports. Boyer said, yeah, but that's all bullshit. Obviously you didn't steal from him. I understand it's a cover job. I totally get it. Mizuhara responded, [00:35:00] technically, I did steal from him. It's all over for me. The evidence was overwhelming. Ohtani was just a victim of the ultimate betrayal from someone who was like a brother to him. At its heart, this story isn't just about gambling. It's about the failure of financial controls at every level. The banking systems that could have caught suspicious transfers, the oversight that should have spotted irregular patterns, and the basic protections that should have prevented unauthorized access.

Caleb Newquist: They all failed. For [00:35:30] financial professionals, the lesson is clear. Trust is not a control. No matter how close the relationship, no matter how long the history. Proper financial controls must always be maintained because when they fail, the consequences can be devastating. Not just financially, but personally. All right. Did we learn anything? Yes, I but I don't know if we learned anything new. Uh. Uh, we knew [00:36:00] gambling could get people in trouble and not the good kind of trouble. It's the kind of trouble that leads you to make 20 wagers a day, Steal millions of dollars from the best baseball player in 100 years. In our most recent episode, we listened to Jonathan Schwartz talk about his compulsion, his gambling addiction, and how it led him to steal millions of dollars from his clients. He thought that if he could just win one big bet, it would [00:36:30] work all out and he could pay everyone back. And that was never going to happen. Amit Patel. The Jacksonville Jaguars employee who stole millions from that team, whose case we discussed in episode 62. He thought he could wager his way out of the losses. Ippei Mizuhara got in deep and thought he could wager his way out of it, too.

Caleb Newquist: And nobody, nobody can. So, yeah. [00:37:00] Gambling. Uh. Devastating. I think that's all we can say. Um, also, we said this kind of at the end of the episode. Trust is not a financial control. You can hardly blame Otani, though. He relied on Mizuhara for everything, especially communicating with the English speaking world. Through no fault of his own, Otani was extremely vulnerable. One thing he could have done, I suppose, [00:37:30] was look deeper into Mizuhara's background. For example, Mizuhara said he attended and graduated from UC Riverside, but the school had no record of him ever attending the school. The other thing Otani could have done differently, or, you know, maybe could have, would have, should have whatever is to hire somebody to make sure the person he trusted most was actually trustworthy. Is that cynical? Neurotic? Paranoid? Yeah. It is. And [00:38:00] would have saved Otani $17 million. But think about it. If you're making that kind of money, Shouldn't the best paid person in your entourage be the person who keeps an eye on everyone else in the entourage? I don't know. I don't know what that job title is, but it it seems like an essential person. Also, and this is kind of strange, but the part about Mizuhara freezing out Ohtani's agent and accountant and financial planner [00:38:30] so that they they didn't know about that bank account and that he chalked it up to Ohtani's desire for privacy.

Caleb Newquist: That's just insane to me. Like the accountant and the financial planner especially, you know, they shouldn't just accept that at face value. Like they should insist. They should have insisted on having access and having visibility into that. And they didn't. So that's something else. But yeah, the big I guess I guess the big the [00:39:00] big lesson gambling will get you in trouble if gambling will get you in lots of trouble. Okay, that's it for this episode. And remember, if you hear yourself telling a bookie you don't have to worry about me not paying, then you absolutely have to worry about you not paying. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for stories, drop me a line at my fraud@earmarks.com or hit me up on LinkedIn. This episode of My Fraud was written and produced by Zach Franc and myself. Zach also engineered the episode [00:39:30] like he does every episode. Our logo was designed by Laura Hobbs. Rate review and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. If you listen on earmark, that's where you get CPE. It's the only place you can get CPE for listening to this podcast. You don't care about that. Listen wherever you want, okay? But yeah, if CPE is important to you, earmark. Join us next time for more avarice, swindlers and scams from stories that will make you say, oh my God.