I don't believe for a second that Ohtani didn't know about the money being missing. I believe Ohtani's interpreter told ESPN the truth that Shohei was helping him out and when they all realized that that could get him in a lot of trouble they doubled down and came out with the story that he stole the money and Shohei had no knowledge of it to try and save Shohei from getting into bigger trouble.
I think that's what happened, but I don't understand why Ohtani saved and forgave him. He should have known he himself could be in trouble sooner or later. Now it's going to be worse after the interpreter's interview and retraction.
The interpreter going to a federal prison for quite sometime for embezzlement is better than Ohtani getting suspended for a year or two... Capitalism man.
@@alexandrebenois7962 There wasn't any " stolen money"!! It is close to a 100% certainty, that Ohtani waa making the bets through the interpreter. The interpreter would never have been extended that much credit, with his salary!!
The likely story seems to be that 1. Ippei gambled and lost money 2. Shohei repaid Ippei's debt for him 3. Some PR person made Ippei go on ESPN to explain Shohei did not gamble, but potentially incriminating Shohei nonetheless (because he transferred money to an illegal ookmaker, even without gambling) 4. Dodgers realised the massive fuck up and changed the story to not incriminate Shohei
Ohtani is consistent was so in the past regarding money. He is famous being unfriendly to the teammates asking to go out for fun. is well known he did not see bank account by himself so saving became huge without his knowledge until his parents came to check it.
4:46 why do you hope this doesn’t blow up? If he did something wrong he should face consequences like everyone else. Eddie Debartlo was banned from the nfl for the river boat gambling scheme. Which wasn’t even a big deal.
I like Shohei, but like American politicians, if he is 100% guilty, nothing will happen to him. That’s my own opinion. The MLB will not allow him to leave baseball just like the government covers up the most corrupt politicians even if they do something in plain sight. Yes u can call be a conspiracy theorist lol. Also, I hope this is not true. I hate the Dodgers but I’ve always liked Shohei a ton and wouldn’t want to see this ruin him, unless he truly is guilty then i guess he’d deserve it
At this point, it does sound like Ohtani had to be involved. How on earth would Ippei have access to Shohei's money? I'm close friends with a few people, none of which have access to my bank account or ever will.
I worked in the offshore sports betting industry for over 20 years. There is no way the the interpreter, would be extended this kind of credit to bet on the phone/internet. Every customer ( betting on credit), is given a " weeky cap", and a per game betting limit. In order to have limits high enough to lose 4.5 million dollars, the customer would have to show a way of being able to pay off the losses. This interpreter, didn't make nearly enough money, to warrent the betting limits necessary to lose that amount of money. The only " logical conclusion", that can be drawn is that Ohtani was making the bets himself, through the interpreter. It isn't 100%, but is extremely likely that this is what happened. Will MLB, try to cover up for Ohtani? My guess, ( only an opinion), is absolutely yes!! The FBI investigation, could uncover the truth. Their reputation for honesty, is also at best highly questionable, and at worst outright crooked!! This case not being political, might actually bring to light, what actually happened, devoid of a " cover - up"!!
There's not really a specific punishment in the rulebook for the MLB it's up to the commissioner if a Ohtani is found to be guilty. And I can almost guarantee you that the commissioner will barely give him a slap on the wrist because he's too valuable for the MLB.
@@RunForPeace-hk1cu He wouldnt need a Translator that was a dip$hit to follow him around! 6 years in the MLB. Ohtani used him to distance himself from people!
Ignorance does not make a person innocent if the money is coming from your bank account. Best case scenario is that he is an accomplice to the crime. The good news is that he is an MLB player, because the MLB loves sweeping things under the rug in order to protect their brand. Example: Astros
I’m fifty years old. I have had a bookie my whole life. They call them wise guys for a reason. They know exactly how much you are worth and exactly how hard they can squeeze you. They know when you are bust and ain’t giving you no more action, and tell you pay. They will not let you ride up huge bills. This dude made 300k. Do you think any bookie is going to let him get on the hook for 15 years of income….it so laughable to me that so many people are sucking this story up like ohtani is a victim. No bookie is that dumb. Obviously this is ohtani’s debt and his fried is covering for him. Seriously, I feel like an Egyptologist listening to some smoo scientist talk about ancient aliens on the Joe Rohan podcast right now. I can’t. You guys are too funny.
When you're close to a guy who just signed a $700 mil contract, I'd think a bookie would be more than willing to continue to take your action. You're not the only one who has a bookie, buddy.
@@crystalborne8315 nah no way…..it’s a business, not a country club. The only way that gets you anything is if you can prove ohtani is part of it. He isn’t just going to take your word for it either. Just think if you knew this guy and he said “hey give me 4.5 mil to open a shopping center. I’m going to pay the rest, don’t worry. I know ohtani I’m good for it. Just hand it over.” No way you do that based off his word. You’d want proof that ohtani was going to pay the rest or at the very least knew about it. You are not smarter than a bookie. It’s common sense. Secondly, if you had a friend who worked at Burger King and he wanted to make a real wager with you for 100k are you going to take that bet knowing he cant pay? No. It’s lose/lose situation. Either he wins and you pay him or he loses and you never get the money bc he could never come up with it. The bookie can’t possibly think that ohtani interpreter has access to his money and can use it without getting caught and what moron would enter into a situation knowing that the dude would be forced to steal to cover his debts and would most likely get caught and therefor draw attention to his business. These guys doing this are way smarter than most. They think of everything. Seriously, you sound like the ancient aliens dude right now talking about how Egyptians had power tools….Im not the only dude that has had a bookie but I’m pretty sure you’ve never had one bc you would know how laughable it is to believe they aren’t two steps ahead of everything…..l
@@crystalborne8315 you see Joe if you look right here….you’ll see markings the resemble precisely the cuts made by a Bonford 6100. That means the ancient Egyptians had power tools…..who gave them those tools Joe? If not ancient aliens then who? …………ah yeah I know ohtani can I have 4.5 million please? Get out of here with that nonsense.
@@crystalborne8315 you see Joe if you look right here….you’ll see markings the resemble precisely the cuts made by a Bonford 6100. That means the ancient Egyptians had power tools…..who gave them those tools Joe? If not ancient aliens then who? …………ah yeah I know ohtani can I have 4.5 million please? Get out of here with that nonsense.
@@crystalborne8315 you see Joe if you look right here….you’ll see markings the resemble precisely the cuts made by a Binford 6100. That means the ancient Egyptians had power tools…..who gave them those tools Joe? If not ancient aliens then who? …………ah yeah I know ohtani can I have 4.5 million please? Get out of here with that nonsense.
You guys are straight simps for ohtani. His interpreter is his fall guy. No bookie is giving an average smoo that kind of action. He would have collected from this guy long before he ever got to 4.5 mil. No way he lets him keep gambling and trying to get lucky with money he doesn’t have to run a bill that he can pay no matter how hard you squeeze. This is the bookies livelihood and he ain’t an idiot. He knows what that guys worth and once he hit around 100k, he’s collecting. Now, he’d let a pro athlete go in the hole 4.5 mil no problem. Also, there is no way he could just drop sho name and the bookie would think oh ok you must be good for it. Nah he’d need to know without a doubt sho was involved. Secondly, this guy shouldn’t have access to sho account. I don’t believe anyone is that dumb but even if they were. The second he transferred the money, sho bank would have noticed and sho business manager/accountant would have noticed. It wouldn’t just be coming out after he’s getting investigated. Whatevs. He will probably get off and I actually don’t care if he does as long as he wasn’t gambling in games he WS in like Pete rose IDGAF. However, he’d gambled. It ain’t a conspiracy. It’s common sense.
You can claim the money was stolen but you still gotta show how the interpreter got access to accounts and that he used a device belonging to the the interpreter
If the truth comes out that the good, gernerous Ohtani naively made the payments personally from his personal accounts to cover his friend's gambling debts, bottom line $4.5 million went from his account to a known bookie. This isn't nickels, dimes and chump change to say the least. Unfortunately, it Looks like some kind of suspension time here. Ohtani should have reported this to MLB asap from the very beginning. If Ohtani is just a very generous, good guy and naive, I feel sorry for him. But, the rules and laws are the law. No double standards. How did his interpreter making $200+k over a 5-6 year span create $4.5 million in gambling debts. Not a very good gambler to say the least. It just doesn't add up. So sad. Oh, mercy. Time will tell.
What do you expect the second sports gambling becomes legal in certain regions sports automatically losses integrity. Doesn’t matter if it’s in a legal sports book or illegal sport book, I’m sure players have families and friends who bet on games .
Ohtani's attorney already turned the matter to the authorities. Which means they reported the matter to the police. There will be criminal investigation. Let’s not pass judgement until what they find out
I think the story will out eventually. If Ohtani DID do something that is judged to have been illegal, his work visa could be revoked and he wouldn't be able to play for the Dodgers or anyone else in the US.
Like wire fraud to an illegal bookie, for example? Lmao. I swear, people are not the brightest....this is a federal investigation we are discussing here.
😀 Yep! This will end up being comedy gold in the comments section if it continues. Mark it down. Personally, I like Ohtani and couldn't care less one way or the other about any of this.
I don’t hate ohtani but I don’t love him either…..ain’t no bookie giving his interpreter a 4.5 mil rope. Now they would give a pro athlete that kind of action but this is so unbelievable to someone who has had a bookie all his life. .
Seems like we really don't know what happened.......Yet. With these types of transfers there is a paper trail and his legal team will have to come up with a story to explain what picture is painted by that paper trail. Sure Ohtani is worth a mint, but hundreds of people or more are making a lot of money off of his success on the field and they won't want to give up that gravy train just because of some allegations where someone else can fall on the sword.
Jim Riley, great channel. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has a decision to make. Is he going to sweep this under the rug? Or is he really going to get to the bottom line on this matter. Ohtani is at least guilty of aiding and abetting his interpreter's gambling problem by giving him money. I think it may go deeper than this. Might be Ohtani gambling problem and Interpreters the fall guy!
Good thing that Toronto Blue Jays didn't get Ohtani we do want drama.... Ohtani best friend my do jail time because there sayings the interpreter stole the money 😢😢someone getting banned for life just LIKE PETE ROSE THIS CONTRACT SHOULD BE VOID DODGERS WONT OWE OHTANI NOTHING......
Follow the money. There will be a forensic trail showing when, how, and from whom payments were made. It is not easy to move that kind of money. This all started when payment receipts were discovered from Ohtani to the bookmaker. There has to me many of these receipts since the total is 4.5M. What is going on now is a coverup to distance Ohtani from a crime and throw Ippei under the bus, by the attorneys. Having said that, will evidence now mysteriously disappear? Its happened before. The worse news is yet to come. And yes, we are being lied to, surprise, surprise.
I hate a scandal to start the season. I think there’s one brewing. Ì don’t believe we’re getting the full story ever. I think there’s something good on with Ohtani and gambling. I don’t know if he has a problem or what’s going on but I think Ippei is being used as a fall guys for whatever is going on.
I want to believe that Ohtani wasn't involved in gambling. But if I were Ohtani and if I wanted to help Ippei to payoff his debt, I would've transferred money from my account to Ippei's bank account or would've written a check for him. I don't know if Ohtani knew that if he transferred money directly from his bank account to that illegal gambling operator, it would leave a trace of transaction and that they would believe that Ohtani got involved in gambling. I heard that Ippei stated to ESPN that both Ohtani and Ippei were watching the actual transaction on the screen ( I don't know if t was Ohtani's phone or computer monitor). It could be that Ippei instructed Ohtani who to send money to in real time, gave that person's name , email address or phone number and that Ohtani did the actual transaction. But soon after his statement, Ohtani's lawyers denied Ippei's statement and said that it was Ippei who stole Ohtani's money. That's why knowledge is power. I don't think Ohtani is not knowledgeable about illegal gambling, especially what action would /could put him in a serious legal problem. I would say this. His lawyers and even MLB will do everything they can to protect him. MLB needs Ohtani and the Dodgers can find another good interpreter in LA area.
Assume the interpreter is making $300k - $500k (before tax), does a book maker give him $4.5M line of credit? That seems to be quite generous. I am just saying. I am not in the online casino industry. I just know how much money the earning power will get you mortgage (the real estate is much safer asset class.)
Your story is not the same as I've heard...that two payments from Shohei of $500.000.00 were made, that's what he knew of, the rest was stolen to add up to over four million, and Shohei was unaware of, that's why there seems to be two stories. The interpreter told the truth, because Shohei didn't know.
Apparent Ippei was Ohtani’s best buddy and one of his most trusted confidants. Believe it or not this sort of thing happens to people with disposable incomes more often than we realize. I remember in the nineteen eighties George Harrison started a film production company and his business partner began to to use funds that Harrison believed were being allocated to the production company to cover debt. Harrison later sued and was awarded eleven million pounds.
I know an ex NBA player and knew him well even while he was still playing. Several people had access to at least some of his accounts. His wife could have robbed him blind if she wanted to. Fortunately for him, she's a stand-up kinda woman. He did very well on that account despite a minor scandal involving her that made the news once. He had a financial advisor and a lawyer that had access to some accounts but neither had access to everything and both were paid to watch the other like a hawk. Then he had a guy (I think he was a cousin or something) that he was basically paying to keep up the house when he was away. That guy had a card and checkbook on separate account that the player put money into every once in a while for him to use on the house and what have you. That guy actually did steal a bunch of money but at least it was just from that separate account, he didn't have access to the big money. I think it was like 200k over 3 or 4 years that went missing.
Intent has to play a part , if he paid. He was probably trying to help a friend and lawyers are now like, oh no you have to say you didn’t know, and ippi will take the fall for the relationship, but ohtani wasnt trying to do anything wrong.
Ohtani is not naive. He's been here & in the MLB for 6 years. He could have talked to his lawyers at any point and asked how best to handle the situation. Conversations with your attorney are completely confidential.
@Adam-tw8yd given the current information we have, won't happen, but if new information comes out showing Shohei was involved and had his interpreter make bets on his behalf, yes its possible. It's not illegal for professional athletes to gamble, it is illegal to bet on the sport in which they play in...and also illegal in the state of California.
The $4.5M that Ohtani ?paid? for his interpreters gambling debt would be about 4-5 years of Ohtani's $2M AAV salary from the Dodgers AFTER TAXES! Surely he will have to pay taxes on the $20M/10YRS, but what about the $680M..??? ??? TO BE CONTINUED......
I mean more of the story of the bets have to come out but in all honesty ippei is the main character for squid games. He lost bets like crazy and couldn't pay his loan sharks off. Ohtani payed off his debts knowing he was in debt and in ohtanis name. Its a bad look but ohtani will come out clean. They saved face and denied ohtanis envolovement saying they knew no knowledge of the wire transfers and ippei knows he's getting his legal consequences handed to him. Ohtani is MLBs poster boy and a generational player. His team definitely saved face by firing him and the lawyers claiming that he stole the money to fund an illegal gambling scheme.
Receive the news how it is , you’re not an investigator and move on and MLB will not allow the greatest player to ever play get in trouble so receive the news and enjoy Shohei playing ball ! Move on
Merely based upon a cursory knowledge of what is known. From an optics standpoint not good for baseball. From a legal standpoint prosecution always swims upstream. If Ohtani is not directly implicated in placing the illegal bets their focus will likely be on Ippei and the other bettors implicated in the ring. The fact that the mainstream media is reporting on this with Ohtani positioned as a victim rather than being complicit to the commission of the offense speaks volumes. The only people positioning Ohtani as a potential conspirator in this scenario is the sports media who are notorious for embellishment. Finally if you wish to look at this from a baseball perspective as long as Ohtani/Ippei were not betting on baseball the players association will back Ohtani to the hilt on this if indeed MLB tries to discipline him. After the Astros cheating scandal went unpunished by the league it spoke to how difficult it is to discipline players for anything other than PED or DV offenses. Case Closed.
Dude, Ohtani wired over 4 mil to an illegal bookie lol. Keyword ILLEGAL. How did you draw the conclusion that you came to? Are you truly that dense? Child please.
Prosecution swims upstream not downstream. I don’t want to make this personal and neither you nor I have skin in this game but you might want to consider that I did not type out that block of text on a whim or fancy but in fact fervently believe my statement to be true. Peace to you.
I believe Ohtani was behind some of this. You can’t tell me he didn’t know. The league needs to look at this. I get Ohtani is the golden boy but if something smells fishy you need to look into this. If indeed Ohtani was behind some of this this could be a complete nightmare for baseball. Imagine Ohtani getting in some serious legal issues. Yikes. It also could be Ohtani wanted to help his best friend get out of a jam which could be the more likely scenario. Ohtani and Ippei are lifelong friends.
You just DONT PAY THEM? WTF that's already Illegal those funds are legally Ohtani's & even if dude lost those bets hes not legally liable to pay an illegal gambling debt lmao 🤣😂 id be like nah wasnt me. Idk dude
@@rapslove9873 I just don't think why would he gambling? He gets 65 million alone on endorsements and gets 2 mill per year MLB. He doesn't got time for gambling.
@@johnsepulvedacruz6428 Ask that question to a gambling addict. Sometimes people who suddenly come into a lot of money get wrapped up in gambling for the entertainment. People like Drake, Ben Affleck, Michael Jordan, Pamela Anderson, Charlie Sheen, and Charles Barkley all got into trouble with big gambling losses.
@@johnsepulvedacruz6428 I agree that I doubt he was gambling but having money has nothing to do with it. The richest people in the world gamble. It's not about making money (they can do that without gambling), it's about winning. It's a rush.
