Excerpts From The Ippei Mizuhara DOJ Complaint For Bank Fraud

A complaint was filed yesterday (April 11, 2024) for Ippei Mizuhara and bank fraud.

This investigation was very thorough and left no doubt with any of the investigator’s team, or bank, or Nez Balelo and his team, that Ohtani had absolutely nothing to do with this orchestrated gambling/embezzlement scheme.

And to BlueAZ2020, because banks are federally regulated and insured, I assume that makes them quasi-governmental agencies that cannot be trusted as well as the DOJ.  And therefore in your estimation, the attached complaint is a complete whitewash of the crime.  And the bank officers are covering for Shohei Ohtani because MLB and LA Dodgers have agreed to make them whole.  And the DOJ is going to exempt them all for perjury.

Complainant – Chris Seymour – Special Agent Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation

Cheat Sheet For the Complaint:

• Victim A – Shohei Ohtani
• Bank A – Ohtani’s and Mizuhara’s Bank
• x5848 Account – Ohtani’s Payroll Deposit Account at Bank A
• Agent 1 – Nez Balelo
• Email Address 1 – Established by Mizuhara and provided to Bank for notifications as primary email address for Account x5848, and tied to Mizuhara phone.
• BL – Financial Manager hired by Nez Balelo
• JC – Bookkeeper hired by Nez Balelo
• KF – Tax return preparer hired by Nez Balelo
• Bookmaker 1 – Mizuhara’s primary bookmaking contact
• Bookmaker 2 – Bookmaker 1’s partner (probably the not so nice partner)
• Bookmaker 3 – Bookmaker associated with Las Vegas casino

I have read the entire complaint.  The first part talks about how the betting was done and how the wire transfers were made, mostly in a hit/miss in the beginning.  I have included a link below for the entire complaint.  If this interests you, you can read all about how these bets and transfers were made.  Below are some of the more poignant points as they may relate to Ohtani.

In or about 2018, MIZUHARA accompanied Victim A to a Bank A branch in Arizona to assist Victim A in opening the x5848 Account, and translated for Victim A when setting up the account details.

 Victim A received additional income from numerous sources, including endorsements and investments; however, those funds are not deposited into the x5848 Account.  Victim A’s domestic endorsements and related income were managed by Victim A’s sports agent (“Agent 1”), a professional bookkeeper retained by Agent 1 (J.C.), a financial manager (B.L.), and a professional tax preparer and accountant (K.F.).

 MIZUHARA always accompanied Victim A to meetings with Agent 1. MIZUHARA also accompanied Victim A to meetings with Victim A’s accountants and financial advisors, but Victim A recalled that there were only one or two such meetings. None of Victim A’s agents, accountants, or financial advisors spoke Japanese and Victim A relied on MIZUHARA to translate the conversations with those individuals.

 Because Victim A received income from a range of both foreign and domestic sources, Victim A generally would not ask MIZUHARA to inquire about specific accounts, and instead, would ask MIZUHARA to inquire with the above-identified financial professionals for an overall picture of his income or investment profile.

 Victim A never gave MIZUHARA control over any of Victim A’s financial accounts, including the x5848 Account. Victim A stated that he did not recognize Email Address 1 that was listed as the primary email address for the x5848 Account.

 The first time Victim A learned that MIZUHARA had gained access to the x5848 Account was on or about March 20, 2024, after an MLB game in Seoul, Korea. Following the game, Victim A’s team was assembled by team management in the locker room, and members of team management addressed the players, followed by MIZUHARA addressing the entire team, in English. No one translated what was said at this meeting to Victim A, and he did not understand most of what was said in English, but Victim A was able to understand there was an issue involving MIZUHARA. Following the team meeting, Victim A asked MIZUHARA what the issue was, and MIZUHARA told Victim A that they needed to speak privately. q. Victim A and MIZUHARA then spoke at the team’s hotel later that evening. During that conversation at the hotel, MIZUHARA disclosed to Victim A for the first time that MIZUHARA had substantial debts from illegal gambling, and that MIZUHARA had been paying his bookmaker with funds from the x5848 Account. MIZUHARA also told Victim A during that meeting that MIZUHARA had falsely told Agent 1 and others that Victim A had agreed to loan MIZUHARA money to pay his (MIZUHARA’s) gambling debts. I. Professionals Working for Victim A Confirmed that MIZUHARA Denied Them Access to the x5848 Account.

 Agent 1 was aware of the x5848 Account and asked MIZUHARA on multiple occasions about the account. MIZUHARA told Agent 1 that the x5848 Account was “private” and that Victim A did not want anyone else to monitor that account. Agent 1 stated that he did not confirm these representations directly with Victim A, but stated that he had no reason not to believe MIZUHARA.

 J.C. was concerned that the lack of access to the x5848 Account created possible tax liability for Victim A if the x5848 Account accrued unreported interest or was used to make gifts in amounts necessary to be reported to the IRS. When J.C. inquired with Agent 1 about gaining oversight over the x5848 Account for tax preparation purposes, Agent 1 informed J.C. that MIZUHARA had stated that Victim A wanted the x5848 Account kept private and that he understood that the x5848 Account did not accrue interest or make gifts.

 On or about April 1, 2024, I and/or other members of the Investigative Team I have spoken with interviewed witness K.F., and based on this interview, I am aware of the following: a. K.F. is an accountant and was retained by Agent 1 to prepare and file Victim A’s domestic taxes. b. K.F. only met Victim A one time, for an introductory meeting, and otherwise received all instructions from Agent 1 or MIZUHARA. c. While K.F. received information about most of Victim A’s accounts and investments in order to prepare Victim A’s tax returns, including Victim A’s Japan-based assets, K.F. was never given information about the x5848 Account. d. In or about October of 2022, K.F. was scheduled to meet with Victim A and MIZUHARA, but only MIZUHARA arrived 30 for the meeting. MIZUHARA stated that Victim A was sick, and unable to join the meeting. During that meeting, K.F. asked MIZUHARA about the x5848 Account, and stated that Victim A risked filing incorrect tax returns if there was interest being generated by any funds in the x5848 Account or any gifts from that account which triggered tax reporting requirements. MIZUHARA responded that Victim A wanted the x5848 Account kept private from everyone, and that the x5848 Account did not bear interest and that there were no gifts from the x5848 Account.

As porpoiseboy wrote, Mizuhara did expend approximately $325,000 in transactions at eBay and Whatnot between January and March 2024 for baseball cards.  Unfortunately he used a clubhouse attendant to take the packages sent to a pseudonym and hold for him.

The complaint answers why the investigative team did not believe the Mizuhara comments to ESPN to be credible.

On or about March 20, 2024, MIZUHARA messaged BOOKMAKER 1 stating, “Have you seen the reports?” BOOKMAKER 1 responded, “Yes, but that’s all bullshit. Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand it’s a cover job I totally get it.” MIZUHARA then responded to BOOKMAKER 1, “Technically I did steal from him. it’s all over for me.”

Here is the full 37 page complaint.  Unless you are convinced of wide spread collusion, I believe the complaint answers most of any questions that many of you may have had.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24542204-usa-v-mizuhara-complaint

1. Shame on Nez Balelo for not having a Japanese speaking employee on his staff. One of HIS employees that he knows he can trust.  When will he hire one???

2. Shame on Nez Balelo for not insisting that his advisers have access to account x5848.

3. That is exactly how tax returns are prepared. They are based on whatever records the client gives to them.  The CPA (Tax Accountant) has Engagement Letters to protect them from having incomplete information.  To the best of their knowledge, they had all of the tax documents, and that they were relying on the client (client interpreter) that there was no taxable income of gifts in the x5848 account.

4. Ohtani may in fact have unreported income in that account x5848 that he may have tax liabilities for. I am surmising that the IRS does have access to that account now, or will have very soon to make that determination.

5. Shame on the Dodgers for not thoroughly vetting Mizuhara, just as they did when they hired Will Ireton for Kenta Maeda. I am confident that the hiring procedures have been or will very soon be amended to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

6. And yes, Shame on Ohtani for putting this much trust into one individual.

I have no idea why MLB is continuing their investigation into this.  What are they going to do, fine Ohtani because of naivete?

For those out there who cannot believe any of this could have gone on without Ohtani’s or his team’s knowledge, I can assure you that this happens every day.  Maybe not to the extent of the above (although it could be much higher), and may not involve gambling, but high wealth individuals are defrauded all the time.  It really was a very simple scheme that did not require collusion.  I have uncovered far more sophisticated frauds that did involve collusion.