ESPN's Tisha Thompson with the latest on the Shohei Ohtani interpreter gambling scandal
Summary
TLDRInvestigative 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
😲 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.
🎲 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.
🏢 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Wire Transfers
💡Bookmaker
💡Federal Authorities
💡Theft
💡Otani
💡Epe Mahara
💡Gaming Debts
💡MLB
💡Investigation
💡Interpreter
💡Credit Line
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
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