California Bookmaker Pleads Guilty to Illegal Gambling Operation
Mathew Bowyer admitted to running an unlicensed betting business involving over 700 clients, including Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter.
Overview
- Bowyer also pleaded guilty to money laundering and filing a false tax return.
- The illegal gambling business operated for at least five years in Southern California and Las Vegas.
- Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's former interpreter, made about 19,000 wagers and lost nearly $41 million.
- Mizuhara stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani's bank account and faces sentencing in October.
- MLB banned a player for life this year for gambling, the first such ban since Pete Rose in 1989.