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Opinion | Shohei Ohtani swears he’s no gambler. But $4.5 million went missing and no one noticed?

Updated
3 min read
BASEBALL-USA-MLB-DODGERS-OHTANI-INTERPRETER-THEFT

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, right, and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, far left, at the MLB season opener in Seoul.  


Bruce Arthur is a columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: .

Maybe Shohei Ohtani can remain almost perfect after all. Maybe the unpleasantness of the past week — the allegations that he paid off his interpreter’s gambling debts in a state where sports gambling is still illegal, with many questions unanswered — will become a distant memory. Maybe the legend will stay untarnished.

But we’ll find out either way. Monday evening, Ohtani finally made a statement on the Ippei Mizuhara affair. Ohtani said he never bet on sports, never bet on baseball, didn’t know Mizuhara had stolen over $4.5 million (U.S.) to pay off a debt, and that Mizuhara lied to so many people that the fraud wasn’t discovered until the very last moment.

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