ESPN's Tisha Thompson with the latest on the Shohei Ohtani interpreter gambling scandal

Summary

Investigative reporter Tisha Thompson from ESPN has uncovered a complex story involving a series of suspicious wire transfers linked to baseball player Shohei Ohtani. The initial claim by Ohtani's interpreter, Epe Mahara, was that he had accumulated gaming debts and Ohtani had helped him pay them off. However, Mahara later admitted to lying, stating Ohtani was unaware of the debts and did not make the payments. Ohtani's attorneys have since reported a 'massive theft,' and the situation is under federal investigation. The MLB is closely monitoring the federal inquiry, as there is limited precedent for this type of situation in modern sports betting. Mahara has been fired, and the bookmaker involved has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Takeaways

• 📞 The story involves a series of wire transfers linked to a bank account in Shohei Otani's name, which were sent to a Southern California bookmaker under investigation by federal authorities.
• 🕵️‍♂️ ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson broke the story, revealing details of the wire transfers and the subsequent fallout.
• 🎲 Eiji Mahara, Otani's longtime interpreter and close friend, initially claimed that the wire transfers were to pay off his own gaming debts, which he said Otani helped him with.
• 🔄 Mahara later recanted his story, admitting that he lied about Otani's involvement and that Otani did not make the payments or know about the gaming debts.
• 💼 The amount in question is substantial, with at least $4.5 million sent from the bank account associated with Otani.
• 🗣️ Otani's attorneys have issued a statement claiming a 'massive theft' and have reported the matter to authorities.
• 🤔 There are questions about the legitimacy of the wire transfers and whether Otani was aware or involved in approving them.
• 🏈 MLB rules prohibit athletes from using a bookmaker, but there is no clear precedent for this situation as it relates to sports betting.
• 🔍 The MLB is closely monitoring the federal investigation and may be waiting for its outcome to determine their response.
• 🇰🇷 The story unfolded while Otani and Mahara were in South Korea for the season opener between the Dodgers and the Padres.
• 🔎 The investigation is ongoing, with no charges filed against the bookmaker and no questioning by federal authorities of Otani or Mahara at the time of the report.

Q & A

What series of events led to the investigation involving Otani and a Southern California bookmaker?

The investigation began when multiple sources and bank documents revealed a bank account in Otani's name that was sending wire transfers to a Southern California bookmaker. This bookmaker and the operation around him are under investigation by federal authorities.

Who is Epe Mahara and what is his relationship with Otani?

Epe Mahara is Otani's longtime interpreter and is characterized as Otani's closest friend. Their bond is described as being as close as brothers, with Mahara spending more time with Otani than with his own wife.

What was the initial explanation provided by Mahara regarding the wire transfers?

Mahara initially claimed that the wire transfers were to pay off his gaming debts, which he had gotten into over his head. He said he asked Otani to help pay off these debts, and Otani eventually agreed to do so.

What changed in Mahara's story after further questioning?

After further questioning, Mahara recanted his initial story, admitting that he lied. He said that Otani was not aware of the gaming debts and did not make the payments.

What was the response from Otani's attorneys regarding the wire transfers?

Otani's attorneys issued a statement claiming that there had been a massive theft and that they were turning the matter over to the authorities.

How much money was involved in the wire transfers from the bank account linked to Otani?

At least $4.5 million had been sent from the bank account through a series of wire transfers.

What is the significance of the timing of the phone call between the reporter and Mahara?

The phone call took place late Tuesday night, a couple of hours before the season opener between the Dodgers and the Padres, which was taking place in South Korea.

What is the MLB's stance on athletes betting and using bookmakers?

According to the rules, MLB athletes are not allowed to use a bookmaker and they cannot bet on baseball. However, betting on other sports is permissible if bookmaking is legal.

What actions have been taken by the MLB in response to this situation?

The MLB has not taken any direct actions yet but is closely following the federal investigation. Mahara was fired instantly after the allegations were made public.

What is the current status of the federal investigation involving the bookmaker?

As of the information available, the bookmaker has not been charged with anything, and neither Otani nor Mahara have been questioned by federal authorities.

What is the next step for the investigative reporter covering this story?

The reporter is trying to determine which authorities have been contacted and is following the federal investigation closely to understand the developments and report on them.

Outlines

00:00

😲 Unraveling the Otani Wire Transfer Scandal

The paragraph delves into a complex financial scandal involving a bank account linked to Otani, a professional baseball player, which was used to wire transfer at least $4.5 million to a Southern California bookmaker under investigation by federal authorities. The reporter's investigation began with outreach to Otani's spokesperson regarding the suspicious bank account. A significant revelation came from Epe Mahara, Otani's long-time interpreter and close friend, who initially claimed that Otani had paid off his gaming debts through these wire transfers. However, in a shocking twist, Mahara later admitted to lying about Otani's involvement in the payments during a follow-up conversation. This led to Otani's attorneys issuing a statement about a 'massive theft' and the matter being handed over to authorities, adding a layer of intrigue and urgency to the unfolding story.

05:01

🎲 The Bookmaker's Credit Line and Betting Timeline

This paragraph focuses on the details surrounding the bookmaker's operations and the timeline of events related to the wire transfers. It is revealed that Mahara was extended significant credit by the bookmaker without needing to put up any money upfront, highlighting the scale of the gambling operation. The narrative also attempts to reconcile the dates of the wire transfers with Mahara's changing stories. According to the first account, Mahara began placing bets in 2021 after meeting the bookmaker at a poker game in San Diego, and by 2023, he was deeply in debt. Despite Mahara's recanted story, the wire transfers from the account named after Otani continued into 2023, as confirmed by the reporter's sources and documentation. The bookmaker's lawyer asserts that there was no direct contact between the bookmaker and Otani, suggesting that all dealings were through Mahara.

10:03

🏢 MLB's Response and the Ongoing Federal Investigation

The final paragraph discusses the Major League Baseball's (MLB) stance on the situation and the broader context of the federal investigation. There is little precedent for this type of incident within MLB, with rules stating that athletes cannot use a bookmaker or bet on baseball. However, with sports betting now legal, athletes are allowed to engage in betting activities outside of baseball. The MLB is closely monitoring the federal investigation and may base their actions on its outcomes. Mahara was swiftly fired from his position, and there are no charges against the bookmaker or questioning of Otani or Mahara by federal authorities at the time of the report. The reporter is actively seeking to identify which authorities have been contacted and is poised to continue covering the story as it develops.

Keywords

💡Wire Transfers

Wire transfers are a method of electronic funds transfer from one bank account to another. In the context of the video, they are significant because they are used to send at least $4.5 million to a Southern California bookmaker, which is under investigation by federal authorities. The wire transfers are central to the allegations of theft and the unfolding story of financial mismanagement.

💡Bookmaker

A bookmaker is a person or entity that accepts and pays off bets. In this video, the bookmaker is involved in an operation that is under federal investigation. The term is key because it ties to the illegal activities that have led to the series of events being discussed, including the wire transfers and the subsequent revelation of theft.

💡Federal Authorities

Federal authorities refer to government agencies that enforce laws at the national level. In this video, they are investigating the bookmaker and the wire transfers, which are suspected to be part of illegal activities. Their involvement is crucial as it indicates the severity and potential legal consequences of the situation.

💡Theft

Theft is the act of taking someone else's property without their permission and with the intent to deprive them of it. In the video, there is mention of a 'massive theft,' which is a central allegation made by Otani's attorneys. This term is pivotal as it suggests criminal activity and sets the stage for potential legal action.

💡Otani

Otani is a central figure in the video, presumably a professional athlete, whose name is on the bank account from which the wire transfers were made. His involvement is significant as it raises questions about his knowledge and participation in the alleged illegal activities.

💡Epe Mahara

Epe Mahara is described as Otani's longtime interpreter and closest friend. His role is critical as he is the one who allegedly made the wire transfer payments and later admitted to lying about the circumstances surrounding them. His actions and statements are central to the evolving narrative of the story.

💡Gaming Debts

Gaming debts refer to money owed as a result of gambling activities. In the video, Mahara initially claims that Otani's name is on the wire transfers because he asked Otani to help pay off his gaming debts. This term is key as it provides a potential motive for the financial transactions in question.

💡MLB

MLB stands for Major League Baseball, which is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States. The term is relevant because it sets the context for the rules and regulations that athletes like Otani must follow, including prohibitions on betting and using bookmakers.

💡Investigation

An investigation in this context refers to the process of looking into the allegations of theft and illegal betting activities. The term is important as it indicates the ongoing efforts to uncover the truth behind the financial transactions and the potential legal implications for those involved.

💡Interpreter

An interpreter is a person who translates spoken or signed language from one language to another. In the video, Mahara is identified as Otani's interpreter, which is significant because it highlights his close relationship with Otani and his potential involvement in the alleged illegal activities.

💡Credit Line

A credit line is an amount of money that a lender agrees to lend to a borrower up to a certain limit. In the video, it is mentioned that Mahara was extended a credit line by the bookmaker, which is significant because it suggests the scale of his gambling activities and the trust placed in him by the bookmaker.

Highlights

A series of events unfolded between Tuesday night and Wednesday midday, significantly changing the situation.

Bank documents revealed a bank account in Shohei Ohtani's name was involved in wire transfers to a Southern California bookmaker under investigation.

At least $4.5 million had been sent from the bank account linked to Ohtani.

Eiji Mahara, Ohtani's interpreter and close friend, initially claimed Ohtani paid off his gaming debts.

Ohtani's attorneys later stated there was a 'massive theft' and the matter was being handed over to authorities.

Mahara recanted his story, admitting he lied about Ohtani's involvement in the payments.

Mahara was extended credit by the bookmaker without needing to put any money upfront.

The timeline of wire transfers does not support Mahara's initial claim of Ohtani's involvement in 2023.

The bookmaker's lawyer stated that the bookmaker never had contact with Ohtani.

Wire transfers typically require verbal approval and go through several checks.

MLB rules prohibit athletes from using a bookmaker but do not forbid betting in legalized sports betting.

MLB is closely following the federal investigation and may take cues from its findings.

Mahara was quickly fired after the allegations were made public.

Neither Ohtani nor Mahara have been questioned by federal authorities as of the last update.

The bookmaker has not been charged with anything at this point.

The investigation is complicated due to the involvement of multiple parties in South Korea.

Tisha Thompson from ESPN is the investigative reporter who broke this story.

Transcripts

quite this because this is just a crazy

story what do we

know well we have a lot going on I think

for folks who are just catching up um

there was a series of events that

happened between Tuesday night into

Wednesday midday where a lot suddenly

started to change it all I think it's

easy to say that it really for us began

uh this week when um based on multiple

sources and uh Bank documents that I had

seen um we were reaching out to Otani

spokesperson to ask why there was a bank

account with SH otani's name on it that

was sending wire transer excuse me wire

transfers to a Southern California

bookmaker

and an operation I should say run by a

Southern California bookmaker and and

that book maker and and the operation

around it um according to multiple

sources is currently under investigation

by federal authorities in in California

um and so we wanted to understand why is

otani's name on on these wire transfers

I I saw some of them um we had multiple

sourcing telling us that um at least

$4.5 million had been sent from that

bank account um so through a series of

events that happened and I'm gonna get

I'm gon to cut to the chase I get on the

phone with epe mahara he is atani's

longtime interpreter uh and and people

characterize him as otani's closest

friend that they have a bond as close as

brothers and that they there's there's a

story out there from some years ago that

says that mahara spent more time with

Otani than he did with his own wife

um so these are two men that were very

very close to each other and so he and I

get on the phone and I spend about 90

minutes on the phone with him um this

was late Tuesday night it was a couple

of hours before the season opener

between the Dodgers and the padr which

was taking place in South Korea so for

mahara it was it was the morning time in

South Korea um it was a couple hours

before the game and he tells me and that

first and there it's important that

people understand this is what he first

tells me he tells me that they are his

gaming Debs um that he got in over his

head that he went this is what he first

says that he went to Otani and asked him

to pay off the debts Otani wasn't happy

about it but eventually offers to pay

them and following instructions that

mahara had received and then relayed to

Otani uh Lodge into his computer and

made the wire transfer payments

um we We Begin you know we we don't

begin we're in the final stages of

putting our story together Wednesday

morning midday and we we get a statement

through otani's

spokesperson um from otani's attorneys

saying that there has been a massive

theft theft and that they are turning it

over to

authorities and we then you know start

making a bunch of phone calls to try to

understand what has just happened and of

course I call mahara and he tells and I

I frankly I say epe did you lie to me

last night and he says yes and he

through a series of questions and

answers tells me that Otani did not this

is the second conversation with mahara

he says he did not tell Otani about the

gaming death and that Otani did not make

the

payments that is a crazy story I got to

tell you I mean like it's it it reads

crazy but hearing you describe you know

the timeline of it makes it sound even

more bizarre so it kind of leads me to

two quick follow-ups that I have to ask

one yeah of course what what do what

does ePay make $150,000 a year I mean he

doesn't make millions of dollars a year

right you know that's a really interest

yeah so that's a really interesting

question we had we had sourcing that was

you know putting an interpreter pay

um initially we were hearing you know a

couple

hundred, okay um I've had some of my

colleagues here you know that some

interpreters make 85 is thousand all

right but it's not enough money to get a

four and a half million dooll credit

line well you know I think it's hard for

you and me to speculate on that because

we don't operate bookmaking operations

at least I don't um I don't either for

the record you know I can only work on

what I've been told okay and the one the

one thing um that has not been clawed

back or I should say the one thing but

you know one of the things that has not

been clawed back uh between the two

interviews with mahara is um that he was

extended credit this is what he told me

he was extended credit by the bookmaker

that sources say is under investigation

and he never had to put any money up

front and he was allowed to continue to

gamble must have been a heck of a heck

of a credit line that he was extended

which is pretty impressive I guess the

the other question then becomes the

dates on the transfers what do how do

those match up with either of his two

stories or do we not know enough yet

well no no I so so the thus far let me

just say this is an evolving story right

right Mahar did not spend as much time

on the phone with me the second time we

talked um it it was a fairly short

conversation um and was not you know was

not giving me a lot of details but in

that but but but so far no one is

debating that it was mahara who was

placing the bets um and

so tell me tell me what you really want

me to to to get at here because there's

no debate over whether he was making the

bets at this juncture if that makes any

sense uh yes no I think I'm not sure

what I was getting at other than trying

to as you were talking I was thinking oh

I wonder if the dates back up the fact

that sh came in later and said hey I

want to cover this for you did the did

the dates back that up yeah okay thank

you forgive me I have so much

information in my brain right now so

okay so

so what he is not debating and what I

don't have any reason to believe has

changed at this point is that the the

the betting according to mitah Hera's

first interview began in 2021 after he

meets this

bookmaker um at a poker game uh in San

Diego at a hotel after they had played

the Padres and um he he begins placing

the bets in

2021 uh through 2022 he gets

increasingly uh in over his head he

calls himself a terrible Gambler um he

he is now beginning to really get in

trouble uh by

2023 in his first version of the story

which he then recanted he goes to Otani

in

2023 however uh the payments according

to my sourcing that come out of the

account that has the name show he Otani

on it uh were were being made in

2023 and the the that jives with what

mahura uh told me in that first

interview um he was he was vague on

dates but I saw a wire transfer from

September and I saw a wire transfer from

October Tisha what I've been told I've

been told there's more than more than

what I saw pardon me yeah Tisha what

have you learned about uh the the guy

running the book making operation and

any sort of contact that he may or may

not have had with Otani directly or does

it sound like that was all with mizuhara

okay thank you for that because I think

it's really really important that the

lawyer representing the bookmaker says

that the bookmaker never spoke or had

contact uh with Otani I've been told uh

from multiple sources that the bookmaker

only dealt with uh

mahura so I've never made a a lot of

major wire transfers in my life I don't

I don't roll quite that deep but I've

got friends who who occasionally make

wire transfers and my understanding is

you got to approve them verbally right

like they they go through a bunch of

different checks when you make a wire

transfer it's not just that you have to

have the account and the routing number

and all that because obviously it's

plausible that Otani could have given

that to his to his interpreter but do

you know how much do you know about just

the way wire transfers are approved

I'm not a

banker um that

is one of I so here's what I don't want

to do I don't want to speculate about

what did and didn't happen um there are

two people who you would think would

know and that's Otani and mahura I I I

will be interested to see if there are

more people that begin to ask questions

about that as as as otani's lawyers said

to us yesterday and have said to many

people now

um through media Outlets that there are

allegations of um massive theft to use

their words and that they're sending it

to the authorities so that's those are

the questions that we're trying to

figure out ourselves Tisha last question

for me I'm just curious what has been

the MLB's response so far if

any so um there's not a ton of precedent

for this uh unlike you know say doping

or drug use where you know there's

there's it's a pretty cut and dry this

is what happens if you get caught with

MLB there's just not a lot of precedents

for this obviously everybody always

talks about Pete Rose but in this modern

era of sports betting There are rules

and my understanding of the rules based

on uh what a variety of people have told

us is and and you can look up what the

rules are as well is that you may not if

you're an athlete with MLB you may not

use a bookmaker you cannot do that you

can't use a a bookie um you may never

bet on baseball I mean Pete Rose right

do not bet on baseball but beyond

baseball if bookmaking is legal my

understanding is is that athletes can do

that you can't use a bookie you can't

bet on baseball but you can bet because

it's now legal um in sports bet I should

say um

so we are very curious to know what's

going to happen here um mahura got fired

like instantly I mean it was fast um I

think I got the statement and he'd been

fired within just a couple hours from

getting the statement um

and there's also you know questions

about what's happening with the federal

investigation and my understanding based

on the sourcing we have right now is

that the is MLB is closely following

what the feds are doing and and maybe

taking their cues from what develops

with the federal investigation they want

to know what the feds have I suspect is

what's going on so let me ask you this

final question I know you got a run and

and we do as well and we really

appreciate just awesome work and and

glad to make your acquaintance here on

the air I wish we'd uh I'm sorry comes

under these sort of weird circumstances

but if that's all right it's what I do I

tend to meet people when you know

there's news like that I love it what

questions are you going to be asking

next like what information would you

like yeah yeah I right now I'm I'm

really trying to figure out you know

when I'm not talking to you guys what

I'm trying to do is figure out which

authorities have been contacted we have

a source close to what's going on uh

with knowledge who's who told who told

me yesterday when all of this was

breaking that um It's Complicated

because so many of the people that you

know would be part of all of this are

currently in South Korea you know the

Padre is and the Dodgers just played

their second game this morning if you're

on Eastern time um and that game just

concluded what like an hour or two ago

so um you so you've got the Dodgers

organization there you've got um a lot

of PE I shouldn't say a lot of people

but you have people who are otani's Camp

you know the people that support him I

mean he is a major league star so he's

got people and then you have Otani and

mahara both also still in South Kore

Korea um so we're trying to figure that

out we're obviously following the

federal investigation it it's important

to mention um the bookmaker has not been

charged with anything that we are aware

of at this point um and

uh we were told yesterday that neither

Otani nor mahara have been asked any

questions by federal authorities uh so I

just want to make sure that's all clear

out there that this is this investig we

want to know what's going on I think as

much as anybody crazy what a story thank

you so much uh let's stay in touch Cu uh

as this story develops something tells

me there may be more to this story that

will come out here over the course of

the next I think I'll be reporting on

this for a while yeah this is like the

type of thing that uh yeah it's pretty

awesome good for you we appreciate it

let's talk again thank you so much Tish

thank you for having me thank you for

having me there's Tisha Thompson from

ESPN she's uh the investigative reporter

who broke this story and uh pretty

interesting now I get

it