Reported by Matt Ehalt

A former federal prosecutor said the illegal gambling allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s former translator could potentially fall under the umbrella of money laundering, should it be revealed that Ohtani approved wire transfers to cover Ippei Mizuhara’s reported $4.5 million debt.

Ohtani’s camp originally told ESPN he had transferred funds to offset the losses before they later “disavowed” Mizuhara’s take.

Lawyers later claimed Ohtani was the victim of “massive theft.”

The IRS is investigating the alleged illegal activities, according to The Associated Press.

Neither Ohtani nor Mizuhara has been charged with a crime as of Friday morning.

“This could get Ohtani into the world of money laundering, which is a federal crime, and that’s what so striking about the way things unfolded, which is initially Ohtani was sort of in the know, and then the story changes,” Joshua A. Naftalis, who worked on the NBA’s case against former referee Tim Donaghy regarding point shaving, told “CBS Mornings” on Friday. “Often, the cover-up is worse than the crime.

“You have to wonder: How did they get the facts wrong?”

The two versions of this story are at the heart of Naftalis’ argument since there’s a massive difference between theft and covering the funds.

Read full report: https://nypost.com/2024/03/22/sports/shohei-ohtani-may-have-to-worry-about-money-laundering-ex-federal-prosecutor/amp/