Ippei Mizuhara, a Los Angeles Dodgers actor who impersonated Ohtani when speaking with bank employees, used Ohtani’s login without authorization and altered security and notification protocols as part of a yearlong scheme fueled by Mizuhara’s need to pay off large gambling debts, to steal practically$ 17 million.
Chances are, Ohtani will never get his stolen wealth again.
But if not sooner, Ohtani’s legal team had persuade a federal judge to grant him a package containing collectable sports cards, accounts found in two Panopply situations, plastic card protectors, and another card-related items at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and the United States Courthouse in Santa Ana, California, on December 20. In addition to pleading guilty to bank fraud and tax fraud charges earlier this year, Mizuhara also gave these items to rules protection as part of his appeal.

Ohtani claims that Mizuhara used Ohtani’s bank accounts to purchase tickets via auction and Whatnot between January and March 2024, when she claims she purchased these items through her lawyer, Blair Berk. According to court records, Mizuhara purchased roughly 1, 000 buying accounts, including high value people of Yogi Berra and Juan Soto. In court documents filed last week, Ohtani asserts that the forfeitable property includes” a number of personally signed collectible baseball cards that depict and are the property of]Ohtani]”.
Through the criminal forfeiture process, where the government has seized a convicted criminal’s assets to inflict punishment for wrongdoing, Ohtani can take possession of the cards. In legal circles, the question of government forfeiture of assets has become a contentious subject. That is especially true of civil forfeitures, where a person is suspected of engaging in criminal activity and has their property sequestered.
Whereas criminal forfeiture requires a conviction, civil forfeiture doesn’t even require a criminal charge. Earlier this year, in Culley v. Marshall, the U. S. Supreme Court clarified when a property owner is entitled to a hearing regarding a forfeiture. The case involved a woman’s college-aged son who was pulled over while driving his mom’s car. He was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The mother’s car was seized and not returned until a court intervened 20 months later.
U. S. District Judge John W. Holcomb granted Ohtani an ancillary hearing, which is a proceeding connected to a case. Through his legal representative, Ohtani will argue that the cards and related materials are legal property that Mizuhara allegedly lacked due to his criminal behavior but that Ohtani actually owned and should be released from government custody. To establish his proper title in the cards, Ohtani can rely on his own evidence, such as bank records and transaction records, as well as those from the government that detail how Mizuhara used the money to buy the cards.

The government informed Holcomb on Monday that it does not disagree with Ohtani’s request and does not believe there should be an ancillary hearing. U. S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada wrote that” Ohtani holds a valid pre-existing interest” in the items and thus the government “does not contest Ohtani’s interest”. Estrada added that once the Mizuhara sentencing is final, the government will issue a decree outlining Ohtani’s superior interest in the property to that of the government. Holcomb will need to grant Ohtani’s motion in order to ensure the cards are dealt to him, either at an ancillary hearing or sooner by order.
Holcomb is scheduled to sentence the 39-year-old Mizuhara on Jan. 24, 2025. Court documents indicate that a forensic psychiatrist was preparing to sentence Mizuhara for gambling-related offenses in 2024, but that appointment has been postponed. The psychiatrist will prepare and submit a report for Holcomb’s review prior to sentencing.
Mizuhara faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison, though as a first-time offender and because he pleaded guilty, he’ll likely receive a much shorter sentence. Although Holcomb will have the option to choose what to do with his sentence, current legal precedent calls for a sentence of four to seven years. Although whether Mizuhara, who appears to be in sizable debt, would be able to pay even a small portion of the restitution is unknown, Mizuhara may also be ordered to pay many millions of dollars in restitution to Ohtani and the IRS.
( This story has been updated in the headline and in the eighth paragraph with the U. S. government’s statement that it does not oppose Ohtani’s request. )