On the morning of the 26th (Japan time) regarding illegal gambling by Ippei Mizuhara, who was the exclusive interpreter for Major League Baseball player Shohei Otani of the Dodgers, Ohtani issued a statement saying, ``Until a few days ago, he was doing this. He denied any involvement in gambling, saying, ``I didn't know that. I personally never bet on anything or asked anyone to bet on anything.''
An overview of the illegal gambling problem
Regarding Mr. Mizuhara's illegal gambling, American media reported that 4.5 million dollars, or approximately 680 million yen in Japanese yen, was transferred from Mr. Otani's account to a betting shop called a bookmaker. The Major League Baseball Organization also announced that it had begun an investigation.
●Just before 7 a.m. Japan time on the 26th, Otani spoke to the press for the first time after the series of issues came to light in the press conference room at Dodger Stadium, his home base.
Otani did not respond to questions, but in a statement he read out, he said, ``I personally do not bet on anything, nor do I place a bet on a sporting event on behalf of anyone, nor do I ask them to do so. I have never asked anyone to transfer money from my account to a bookmaker,'' he said, denying any involvement in gambling.
《Full statement by Shohei Otani》
"Sad and shocked"
I myself am saddened or shocked that someone I trusted made a mistake, and that's how I feel right now. There is an investigation currently underway, so I would like you to understand that there is a limit to what I can say today, and I have put together a memo to convey the details in an easy-to-understand manner. I would like to explain it to you.
``I personally do not place bets or request money transfers.''
First of all, I personally have never placed a bet on anything, or asked someone to bet on a sporting event on behalf of someone else, and I have never placed a bet on a bookmaker or someone else from my account. I have never requested a remittance. I had no idea he was doing that until a few days ago. The bottom line is that he stole money from my account and also lied to everyone around me.
"Mr. Mizuhara's story is a complete lie."
Last weekend, my agent in South Korea received a call from the media asking if he was involved in sports betting. Mr. Mizuhara did not tell me that he would be asked to do this kind of interview, and I had not received any such communication, so Mr. Mizuhara only found out after talking to me. I was telling everyone, including my agent, that I had paid the money to cover a certain friend's debt.
In further cross-examination the next day, Mr. Mizuhara explained to his attorney that his debt was his own, that is, he had created it himself. At that time, he told his agent that I had taken over that responsibility. And these were all lies.
The first time I learned about this problem with gambling was at a team meeting after the first game in Korea. At that meeting, he spoke everything in English, so of course I didn't have an interpreter with me, so I didn't fully understand it, but I had a vague idea that it was going to be like this, but at that moment, I felt something was wrong. I was feeling it.
“I never asked or gave permission to send money.”
He asked me to wait for now because he wanted to discuss the details with me after we got back to the hotel, so we decided to wait until he got to the hotel first. Of course, I didn't know at the time of the meeting that Mr. Mizuhara was a gambling addict, and I didn't know at the time of the meeting that he was in debt.
Of course I did not agree to his debt repayments, and he certainly never asked or allowed the bookmaker to transfer money. After that, when I returned to the hotel after the game, I spoke to Mr. Mizuhara for the first time and learned that I owed him a huge amount of money. At that time, he informed me that he had accessed my account without permission and was sending money to a bookmaker.
"I'm glad I could talk to you today."
I thought it was strange and wanted to talk to my agent, so I called my agents over and discussed it there. After we finished speaking, I realized for the first time that my agent had been lied to by him, so I immediately contacted the Dodgers and their lawyers. It was then that the Dodgers and their agents realized for the first time that they had been lied to. Then, the lawyers reported that this was theft and fraud and that they would turn it over to the police authorities.
This is the flow up to that point, so of course I am not involved in sports betting, and there is no evidence that I sent any money to a bookmaker. Honestly, I don't think "shock" is the right word, and I've been feeling a feeling that can't be expressed in any other words for the past week, so I'm finding it difficult to put it into words right now. . However, since this season is about to start in earnest, I will leave it to my lawyer from now on, and I would like to fully cooperate with the police investigation.
It's difficult to change my mind, but I'm glad that I was able to talk to you as much as I could today in preparation for this season, so this is all I can talk about today, so I won't do a Q&A, but I think things will continue to progress. . that's all. thank you very much. (end)
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