Shohei Ohtani, the acclaimed baseball player who recently conquered the World Series and snagged the National League MVP title with the Los Angeles Dodgers, finds himself entangled in a legal tussle. Seeking the return of $325,000 worth of baseball cards that were allegedly swindled by his former interpreter and confidant, Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani has taken his case to a federal judge after Mizuhara’s guilty plea to defrauding him of nearly $17 million.
The petition filed by Ohtani landed at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, with the sports star aiming to reclaim the confiscated sports cards that were seized from Mizuhara by authorities. The court has granted a hearing on the matter, scheduled for December 20, where Ohtani will make his case for the return of his prized possessions.
Providing a backdrop to the fraudulent activities, Mizuhara came clean in June about his involvement in bank and tax fraud, specifically targeting Ohtani’s financial assets. Throughout the early months of 2024, Mizuhara allegedly utilized Ohtani’s funds to acquire baseball cards from online platforms like eBay and Whatnot, all with the intention to flip them for profit. Ohtani firmly asserts that these cards were purchased using his resources and, therefore, rightfully belong to him.
Furthermore, Ohtani informed the court of the discovery of “a quantity of personally signed collectible baseball cards” featuring his likeness among Mizuhara’s possessions, mistakenly entangled in the seized items. As part of his petition, Ohtani is pressing for the return of these items alongside the other confiscated sports cards.
Court documents detail the seized items as a collection of sports cards stashed in Panoply cases in silver, black, and gray, along with additional collectible cards in a separate box. Moreover, a card wrapping device and various plastic card protector holders were among the items seized from Mizuhara’s possession.
Mizuhara’s narrative took a sharp turn with his unauthorized access to Ohtani’s bank account, a move that eventually exposed his deceitful behavior. Subsequently, Mizuhara faced the consequences as the Dodgers promptly severed ties with him in March upon uncovering his illicit actions. Originally scheduled for sentencing on October 25 and later postponed to December 20, Mizuhara’s sentencing has now been pushed further to January 24.
The upcoming hearing on December 20 holds the key to determining whether Ohtani will succeed in regaining ownership of the sports cards confiscated from Mizuhara. This legal battle serves as another chapter in the aftermath of Mizuhara’s betrayal of the trust Ohtani had placed in him, spotlighting the repercussions of a confidant’s deceit on one of baseball’s brightest luminaries.
