Kiké Hernández stood in the corner of a jam-packed Dodger Stadium interview room Monday and watched as Shohei Ohtani forcefully denied speculation that he bet on sports or knew that his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, had allegedly stolen $4.5 million from him to pay off debts owed to an illegal Orange County bookmaker.
During the 12-minute press conference, Ohtani said he had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s gambling problem until last week, that he never agreed to pay off Mizuhara’s debt or make payments to the bookmaker, and that Mizuhara, who was fired by the Dodgers last week, “has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.