Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has asked a federal judge for possession of $325,000 worth of baseball cards that he said were fraudulently purchased by his former interpreter.
Ohtani asked a federal judge in California on Tuesday for a hearing to regain ownership of sports cards seized to the tune of nearly $17 million in a massive scandal that dominated the weeks leading up to the season last spring.
According to the report, Mizuhara purchased baseball cards online between January and March 2024 with the intention of reselling them. Ohtani said they were bought with his money, and he wants them back from authorities who seized the cards when they arrested Mizuhara. Ohtani also requested “a number of personally signed collectible baseball cards” with his image on them, which were in Misuhara’s possession when seized by authorities.
to pay off sports betting debt earlier this year. He is. He will appear in court again in January for sentencing. He was Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and also acted as his financial point of contact when Ohtani moved to the United States in 2018.
Mizuhara averaged about 25 bets per day between December 2021 and January 2024, with an average stake of $12,800, prosecutors said. He lost a total of about $40.7 million. With access to Ohtani’s bank accounts, Mizuhara stole millions to try to pay off that debt. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara and . He cooperated with investigators and insisted that he never gambled on any sport and was unaware that Mizuhara was stealing from him.
earlier this fall. even after the season, despite not pitching once as he recovered from elbow surgery he underwent at the end of his time with the Los Angeles Angels. As the Dodgers’ full-time DH, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. Ohtani is expected to take the mound again next season.
