Japanese-Language Translator Charged in Complaint with Illegally Transferring
More Than $16 Million from Baseball Player’s Account
日語翻譯員因涉嫌非法從棒球選手帳戶轉移超過1600萬美元而被控告
https://reurl.cc/XGDz9E
Thursday, April 11, 2024
LOS ANGELES – A Japanese-language translator was charged today via federal
criminal complaint with unlawfully transferring more than $16 million from a
Major League Baseball (MLB) player’s bank account – without the player’s
knowledge or permission – to pay off his own substantial gambling debts
incurred with an illegal bookmaking operation.
洛杉磯－一名日語翻譯員今天被聯邦刑事起訴
指控他在一名大聯盟（MLB）球員不知情或未經其允許的情況下
非法從該球員的銀行帳戶中轉移了1600多萬美元
用於償還自己在非法外圍賭博中欠下的巨額賭債
Ippei Mizuhara, 39, of Newport Beach, is charged with bank fraud, a felony
offense that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal
prison.
39 歲的水原一平來自紐波特海灘（Newport Beach）
他被指控犯有銀行詐欺罪
這是一項重罪，法定最高刑責為 30 年聯邦監禁
Mizuhara is expected to appear in United States District Court in downtown Los
Angeles for his initial appearance in the near future.
水原預計將於近期在洛杉磯市中心的美國地區法院首次露面
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, from November 2021 to
January 2024, Mizuhara wired more than $16 million in unauthorized transfers
from a checking account belong to an MLB player identified in the affidavit as
“Victim A,” who in fact is MLB star Shohei Ohtani. The transfers from this
bank account allegedly were made from devices and IP addresses associated with
Mizuhara, who served as Ohtani’s translator and de facto manager.
根據與起訴書一同提交的一份書面證詞，從 2021 年 11 月到 2024 年 1 月
水原未經授權從屬於一名 MLB 球員的帳戶中匯款超過 1600 萬美元
將其稱為"受害者 A"，而受害者 A 實際上就是 MLB 球星大谷翔平
該銀行帳戶的轉帳據稱是透過與水原（Mizuhara）相關的設備和 IP 地址進行
水原是大谷的翻譯和實質經紀人。
In 2018, Mizuhara accompanied Ohtani, who didn’t speak English, to a bank
branch in Arizona to assist Ohtani in opening the account and translated for
Ohtani when setting up the account details. Ohtani’s salary from playing
professional baseball was deposited into this account and he never gave
Mizuhara control of this or any of his other financial accounts, according to
the affidavit. Mizuhara allegedly told Ohtani’s U.S.-based financial
professionals, none of whom spoke Japanese, that Ohtani denied them access to
the account.
2018年，水原陪同不會說英語的大谷來到亞利桑那州的一家銀行分行
協助大谷開設帳戶，並在設定帳戶細節時為大谷翻譯
據書面證詞，大谷的職業棒球的薪資都存入該帳戶
他從未將該帳戶或其他任何財務帳戶的控制權交給水原
據稱，水原告訴大谷在美國的金融專業人士（他們都不會說日語）
大谷拒絕他們存取該帳戶。
In September 2021, Mizuhara began gambling with an illegal sports book and,
several months later, started losing substantial sums of money, the affidavit
states. During this time, the contact information on Ohtani’s bank account
allegedly was changed to link the account to Mizuhara’s phone number and to
an anonymous email address connected to Mizuhara.
書面證詞稱，2021 年 9 月，水原開始在一家非法體育博彩公司賭博
幾個月後開始輸掉大筆資金
據稱，在此期間，大谷銀行帳戶的聯絡資訊被更改
連結至水原的電話號碼和一個與水原有關的匿名電子郵件地址
Mizuhara allegedly also telephoned the bank and falsely identified himself as
Ohtani to trick bank employees into authorizing wire transfers from Ohtani’s
bank account to associates of the illegal gambling operation.
據稱，水原（Mizuhara）還打電話給銀行，虛假稱自己是大谷（Ohtani）
誘騙銀行職員授權從大谷的銀行帳戶電匯給非法賭博活動的相關人員
From January 2024 to March 2024, he also allegedly used this same account to
purchase via eBay and Whatnot approximately 1,000 baseball cards – at a cost
of approximately $325,000 – and had them mailed to Mizuhara under an alias,
“Jay Min,” and mailed to the clubhouse for Ohtani’s current MLB team.
據稱，從 2024 年 1 月到 2024 年 3 月
他還用同一帳戶透過 eBay 和 Whatnot 購買約 1000 張棒球卡（成本約為32.5萬美元）
並化名為"Jay Min"將這些棒球卡郵寄給水原，再郵寄到大谷目前所在的MLB球隊會所
In an interview last week with law enforcement, Ohtani denied authorizing
Mizuhara’s wire transfers. Ohtani provided his cellphone to law enforcement,
who determined that there was no evidence to suggest that Ohtani was aware of,
or involved in, Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity or payment of those
debts.
在上週接受執法部門的面談時，大谷否認授權水原進行電匯
大谷向執法部門提供了他的手機
執法部門認定沒有證據表明大谷知道或參與水原的非法賭博活動或支付這些債務
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court
of law.
刑事告訴僅是一種指控，除非在法庭上排除合理懷疑證明被告有罪，否則應推定被告無罪
IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations are
investigating this matter.
美國國稅局刑事調查和國土安全部調查正在調查此事。