Karma does come back and it is real! The unfurled scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara is the prime example of how Karma strikes. While it is all known that Mizuhara scammed money from Ohtani’s account to meet his betting debt, putting Ohtani’s details in his statement is beyond the legalities and gross. Yes, in his justification before the court, Mizuhara expectedly shared all the details about his financial needs and what compelled him to scam Ohtani. Still, it took a wrong turn when he added the prenup agreement between Ohtani and his wife.
Well, exposing the personal details of his client is not something expected from Mizuhara, and it not only hampered the dignity of Ohtani and his wife but also made things worse for Mizuhara. He was handed a sentence of 57 months, while his lawyers appealed for 18 months. Karma, they said! So how did the scam unfold and what should be the role of Ohtani going forward?
Mizuhara in hot water
Mizuhara has been working with Ohtani since his days at NPB in 2013 and is the only point-of-contact for Ohtani since he joined MLB. In the American community, Mizuhara managed all the conversations with the non-Japanese entities and hence he had access to all personal details including the financials of Ohtani. The statement shared by Ippei Mizuhara also conveys how he was more than just an interpreter for Ohtani and he got paid about $11,000 annually. However, greed has no boundaries and ultimately causes Mizuhara to his job, social status, and trust. But why put personal details that have no connection with this case?
“The prenup agreement that Ohtani has with his current wife that’s freaking gross nobody needed you to put that in a letter”, said MLB insider Scott Braun pointing out how it is unethical and putting someone’s dignity on the line for personal gain. Although it didn’t make any case for Mizuhara to justify himself, it is just the classic case of inflicting maximum pain on the opponent when consequences are inevitable. Mizuhara got no point or justification to share Ohtani’s details, rather he did it by will to make things complicated for the latter. Well, Mizuhara successfully dug his hole and is on the verge of getting deported to his home country!
Ohtani is expected to be more vigilant
“Let there be no doubt, Mr. Ohtani is truly a victim and has suffered, and will continue to suffer, harm,” the sentencing memo said. Although Ohtani had no role in this scandal, a more careful approach was expected from him. Surprisingly Ohtani did not know Mizuhara making wire transfers from his bank account so he does have some extent of accountability here. Ippei Mizuhara is now fired from MLB and Ohtani is working with Will Ireton as his interpreter. It would be good for Ohtani to let Ireton work as an interpreter only and not get him into his personal space.
With great power, comes great responsibility and Ohtani should now need to prove the same. He should be present physically during any transactions and conversations even though his interpreter will do the talking. Well, letting someone get all the personal access and pleading for innocence might not work every time and Ohtani got a larger responsibility being a public figure. Now that his prenup details got exposed, fans need to be responsible enough here to not let someone’s dignity get at stake and uphold the class of the American sports community.
For Mizuhara, irrespective of whether he got deported or not, he will be shamed for long and lose all this respect and dignity at once. A dark chapter in the history of MLB.
