One other chapter is being written within the Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara saga.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani has petitioned a federal choose this week for possession of $325,000 price of baseball playing cards that have been allegedly bought fraudulently by his ex-interpreter Mizuhara, Noah Furtado of The Athletic reported Wednesday.
The report provides that Mizuhara purchased baseball playing cards from on-line retailers eBay and WhatNot between January and March 2024 with the intention of reselling them. The playing cards have been then seized from Mizuhara by authorities in reference to Mizuhara’s fraud case.
Ohtani is alleging that the playing cards have been wrongfully bought utilizing his cash and thus claims that they belong to him. The three-time MVP can also be looking for the return of “a amount of personally signed collectible baseball playing cards” that have been seized from Mizuhara’s possession too. As such, Ohtani is asking for a listening to from the U.S. District Courtroom for the Central District of California to argue his rightful possession of the gadgets.
Mizuhara, Ohtani’s longtime former translator and confidant, pleaded responsible again in Could to financial institution and tax fraud fees associated to his theft of practically $17 million from Ohtani’s checking account. Whereas the federal investigation revealed that Mizuhara used the funds to repay an unlawful bookie (an operation that additionally ensnared an ex-Ohtani teammate), Ohtani is alleging that Mizuhara used his cash to buy collectibles as properly.