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More revelations came to light Tuesday following ESPN's David Payne Purdum blockbuster report that $500,000 payments the interpreter Ippei Mizuhara sent from Shohei Ohtani's bank account to an illegal bookmaking operation were forwarded to California and Las Vegas casinos. The money was then deposited in gambling accounts, converted to chips, per sources. Ohtani has since fired Mizhuhara.
Payne Purdum writes:
"The description of what happened to Ohtani's money sheds new light on the ongoing federal probe that drew global attention after his interpreter, Mizuhara, was accused of stealing $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger to feed what he has called a gambling addiction."
IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations agents as part of the El Camino Real Task Force Investigations are currently investigating an alleged $16 million theft from Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani by his former translator. Mizuhara is accused the ill-gotten funds to pay gambling debts owed to illegal bookmaker Matt Bowyer.
Last week we reported on how, in Las Vegas, Bowyer was known as a high-roller at Resorts World Las Vegas. He is currently cooperating with the investigation.
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The ESPN report elaborates further when it comes to Bowyer. The 49-year-old bookie allegedly lost $7.9 million at Resorts World between June 2022 and October 2023.
The sources told ESPN that Mizuhara paid his losses to Bowyer's associate, with the funds subsequently forwarded to his own "marker" accounts at Resorts World and Pechanga Resort Casino in Southern California. The men then withdrew chips from the marker account, gambled with them, and if they won, cashed out, Payne Purdum writes.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board finally appears to be taking this probe seriously. Gambling911.com has been reporting on it since August, as have a handful of local Vegas news outlets, while the Las Vegas Review Journal seemingly ignored the story for a time.
They just filed a three-count complaint against former casino executive Scott Sibella four months after his January guilty plea for violating the Bank Secrecy Act in connection with a sprawling, ongoing federal illegal bookmaking investigation.
Sibella admitted to authorizing MGM casino marketing representatives to allow Wayne Nix, an alleged illegal bookmaker and former minor league baseball player, to gamble millions of dollars at the casino and pay his debts in cash.
“Sibella failed to comply with MGM Resorts International’s anti-money laundering policy and failed to comply with MGM Grand’s internal controls that required Sibella to report suspicious activities regarding Nix,” the control board wrote in the complaint.
Per Payne Purdum (say that one three times real fast), Resorts World appears to be dead center of the feds probe into potential Vegas execs improprieties.
The affidavit pertaining to the investigation makes mention of "illegal sports bookmaking organizations operating in Southern California, and the laundering of the proceeds of these operations through casinos in Las Vegas."
MGM Resorts International did not respond to Payne Purdum's inquiries.
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