Shohei Ohtani breaks his silence on gambling probe after Dodgers fired interpreter Ippei Mizuhara… $700m star insists he has NEVER bet on sports and that his friend lied and stole money from his accounts to pay bookmaker

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani broke his silence Monday afternoon for the first time since his friend and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired as part of a gambling probe.

Ohtani’s lawyers say their client was victim of a ‘massive theft’ by Mizuhara after $4.5million in wire transfers were taken out of the Japanese slugger’s account to pay off alleged gambling debts. 

The star said that he was ‘very saddened and shocked’ that Mizuhara did this, adding (through an interpreter), ‘I never bet on baseball or any other sports and never asked to do it on my behalf and never went through a bookmaker.’

‘In conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,’ Ohtani said.

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