Overview
- ESPN’s six-episode podcast The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani drops its first two episodes on July 28 with additional chapters released through August 11, revisiting the 2021–24 money transfers and reporting by Tisha Thompson.
- Ippei Mizuhara admitted to stealing roughly $16–17 million from Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to federal charges, was sentenced to a reported 57-month prison term and ordered to pay restitution.
- The series includes, for the first time publicly, a roughly 90-minute taped interview Mizuhara gave to Thompson and new on-record interviews with an IRS special agent and prosecutors who investigated the case.
- A jailed bookmaker, Matthew Bowyer, appears on the podcast to describe how he recruited and managed high-value clients, and reporting identifies intermediary recipients such as Ryan Boyajian who reportedly received Ohtani’s funds and cooperated with prosecutors.
- Beyond the crime, the podcast probes how illegal sports betting and lapses in oversight made the theft possible, underscores Ohtani’s public exoneration by MLB and federal investigators, and could prompt renewed scrutiny of athlete financial safeguards and illegal wagering networks.