Amid the swirling controversy surrounding Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s best player spoke to the media yesterday reiterating his assertion he was a victim of fraud and did not make illegal bets on sports. Forbes.com baseball writer Dan Epstein said there might not be proof the superstar placed illegal bets, but what he said to the media on Monday didn’t provide any clear evidence one way or another.
Shohei Ohtani, who would not talk to the press or answer questions, reiterated that his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara had committed fraud and that he did not willing give his friend and confidant the alledged $4.5 million in funds needed to pay off an illegal bookmaker.
“I am very saddened and shocked someone whom I trusted has done this,” Ohtani said while sitting next to a new interpreter. “Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has been telling lies. I never bet on sports or have willfully sent money to the bookmaker.”
During an exclusive interview with Sportsnaut, Dan Epstein, a baseball writer with Forbes.com, talked of the unfolding saga involving Shohei Ohtani, as both unprecedented and indicative of the modern athletes complex journey.
“It seems like it’s all that the sports world is talking about right now because this is incredible when you just take a step back from it for a minute to think that this kind of of massive scandal could happen to anyone, and it just so happens to be the greatest player in the sport, who is doing things on the field that are unprecedented,” Epstein told Sportsnaut.
Why has Shohei Ohtani changed his initial story?
The story took a wild turn with Shohei Ohtani’s recent remarks to the press, which were notably different from a his initial statements last week when the issue became public. The story changed for both Ohtani and Mizuhara adding to the suspicion and intrigue. Ohtani’s statement Monday raised more questions than providing answers, Epstein asserted.
“For me, it leaves more questions unanswered than it does, provide answers,” Epstein told us. “He didn’t answer a lot of the key questions. He didn’t answer how did Ippe Mizuhara get access to his account in the first place and all of the the copious documentation that he would need in order to be able to send account of transfers in $500,000 increments.”
Epstein’s analysis portrays a situation hovering near a multitude of ethical dilemmas. The lack of explanations for discrepancies in Shohei Ohtani’s version of events compared to initial reports hints at a complex story that is far from being resolved.
“So that question is the big question. Did he or did he not,” Epstein said. “And if so, then what he said today was a fabrication. I I don’t know what is the truth, but I don’t think we got it today or at least not all of it.”