Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged the Japanese-language translator for Shohei Ohtani with felony bank fraud, accusing Ippei Mizuhara of stealing millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to cover his own gambling debts.

According to an affidavit provided to HuffPost, Mizuhara transferred more than $16 million out of Ohtanis checking account from November 2021 to January 2024, directing the funds to an illegal sports gambling operation.

Mizuhara helped Ohtani set up the bank account in 2018 but was never authorized to manage any aspect of the players finances. In late 2021, he began losing what prosecutors describe as substantial sums of money on gambling.

During that time, recorded calls and bank records show the translator changed the contact information linked to Ohtanis bank account to his own phone number and an anonymous email address that he controlled, prosecutors allege.

He then accessed the account and authorized numerous wire transfers, some as large as $500,000. According to the affidavit, Mizuhara transferred any winnings to his personal account.