MLB opens investigation into Shohei Ohtani and Dodgers' star's friend Ippei Mizuhara after new details emerge into the $4.5million wire transfers to pay off the interpreter's alleged gambling debts

Major League Baseball has announced that they have begun an investigation into the activities of Shohei Ohtani's friend and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

Reports have emerged about $4.5million in wire transfers from Ohtani's bank account allegedly used to pay off Mizuhara's gambling debts.

The league says their Department of Investigations 'began their formal process investigating the matter' earlier on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, new details emerged into the ongoing saga between the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mizuhara.

Ohtani's representatives say they've submitted an allegation into law enforcement to open an investigation.

Shohei Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara (L) is now under investigation by MLB

In an interview with ESPN, Mizuhara says Ohtani helped him through a wire transfer to pay off $4.5million worth of gambling debts that he stacked up in an illegal gambling operation

But sources told ESPN that neither the Los Angeles Police Department, the district attorneys offices in Los Angeles County or Orange County, the California Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI was working on the case. ESPN said the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California declined to comment.

ESPN published an updated timeline of events - revealing that they had been following a tip for months, before finally being able to ask questions about it on Monday while Ohtani was with the Dodgers in South Korea.

After trying to get in touch with Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo, ESPN reporters were later contacted by a crisis communications spokesperson who was recently hired by the outfielder.

That spokesperson says Ohtani paid off the debts of Mizuhara and that Balelo confronted the interpreter - who came clean. The spokesperson then quoted Ohtani, who said, 'Yeah I sent several large payments. That's the maximum amount I could send.'

Mizuhara then eventually spoke to an ESPN reporter one-on-one for about an hour and a half - explaining how he started meeting and gambling with Mathew Bowyer, whose illegal gaming operation is how this was uncovered.

The interpreter claimed that he didn't know Bowyer's operation was illegal - and that his debt grew to $4m by early 2023. It was then that he says he went to Ohtani for help, explained his situation and that Ohtani 'said he would help me'.

Mizuhara was asked if Ohtani - who has been vocally against gambling - knew he was in debt with a bookie, to which the interpreter replied that Ohtani 'didn't have any clue'.

After Ohtani sent off the money, Mizuhara told ESPN that he promised he would send his friend all the money back eventually.

But when confronted, Mizuhara admitted that he lied in his previous interview and to Ohtani

Ohtani did not know that the money had been taken out of his accounts until Wednesday

The Dodgers opened their season in Seoul - with a 5-2 win over the Padres. After that game, Dodgers officials explained the situation to the clubhouse - saying that Ohtani helped cover Mizuhara's losses and that the story would soon break to the press.

But Ohtani started asking about what was said - and told his representatives that he didn't recognize Mizuhara's account of the events.

Dodgers officials and Ohtani's spokesperson said that they had been relying on Mizuhara to communicate with Ohtani while they dealt with the situation - and that Mizuhara didn't tell Ohtani what was happening. It was on that Wednesday that Ohtani claims he discovered that money was missing from his account for the first time.

With information from Ohtani's camp claiming 'Ippei is lying', ESPN waited for  a statement. Eventually, it arrived from Ohtani's lawyers saying that Shohei had 'been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the authorities'. Mizuhara then gets fired shortly after the statement is released.

ESPN got hold of Mizuhara again, where he admits to lying in his previous interview. He denies over the phone that his is represented by Ohtani's people, that he isn't being paid to say this, and that he hasn't made any agreements. He confirms that he lied to Shohei and denies betting on baseball.

When asked by ESPN, 'Did you take the money from Shohei's accounts without his knowledge?', Mizuhara does not respond.

Ohtani's spokespeople say that Mizuhara was able to control information relayed to him through his position as a translator - and that Ohtani hadn't realized what was happening until the postgame clubhouse meeting when a new interpreter was brought in.