Since Shohei Ohtani was caught up in a gambling scandal by his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, the story took on massive exposure outside of MLB to the extent that it will have its own TV series.
Lionsgate is developing a series centered on one of the biggest scandals of recent years after Mizuhara transferred $17 million to an illegal gambling house without the Japanese baseball player’s consent.
So far there is no network attached to the project, however, producer Scott Delman and journalist Albert Chen will be in charge of production; while it will be overseen by executive Max Elins for Lionsgate Television after Bryan Weiser negotiated the deal.
“This is MLB’s biggest sports betting scandal since Pete Rose, and at the center of it is theMLB’s biggest star,” Chen said. “We’ll get to the heart of the story: a story of trust, betrayal and the perils of wealth and fame.”
Mizuhara ‘agreed to plead guilty‘ after stealing from Ohtani
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California reported last Wednesday that Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to stealing $17 million.
“Ippei Mizuhara, 39, of Newport Beach, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, and one count of underwriting a false tax return, which carries a sentence of up to three years in federal prison,” reported.
Mizuhara will officially plead guilty in the coming weeks and the arraignment is set for May 14, according to the same source.
The scandal began to travel around the world in March, when the Dodgers played their opening series of the 2024 season against the San Diego Padres in Seoul, leading Mizuhara to be detained by different agents as he got off his flight to continue the investigation.
Mizuhara had turned himself in to authorities last April 12 after facing criminal charges of bank fraud from transfers that occurred on a regular basis between November 2021 and January 2024. In September 2021, he had started to engage in illegal gambling and losing large amounts of money.
