SoxProspects News
|
|
|
|
Legal
Forum Ground Rules
The views expressed by the members of this Forum do not necessarily reflect the views of SoxProspects, LLC.
© 2003-2024 SoxProspects, LLC
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Home | Search | My Profile | Messages | Members | Help |
Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal thread
|
Post by patford on Mar 22, 2024 23:27:48 GMT -5
If you read Silver's piece, he explains it clearly. His relationship with the interpreter was very close, very personal. If he trusted him enough to have him acting as a personal secretary with access to the account, that's all it would take. I get that part - but like for a banking institution, aren’t there any steps they would take at this level of transaction to verify its authenticity? Ohtani I would have to imagine has to a money manager, even if that is a separate person from his bank. No one saw the multitude of $500,000 dollar payments to some obscure bank account and bothered to double check? That’s what I don’t understand, but I’m no finance guy. The kind of complete indifference doesn't jibe with the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED article published one day before the gambling story broke. www.si.com/mlb/2024/03/19/shohei-ohtani-is-an-icon-among-us-los-angeles-dodgers-dog-decoy#gid=ci02d8c822d0002684&pid=part-4-the-deferral"The deferral idea had percolated in Ohtani’s mind for weeks. Ohtani had never come close to signing an extension with the Angels before the 2023 season...Once Ohtani told Balelo about the deferral idea, the agent went to work to devise the best structure for his client...Ohtani made his decision that night. He told Balelo he wanted to play for the Dodgers."
|
|
|
Post by scottysmalls on Mar 22, 2024 23:33:40 GMT -5
For those with a banking background, how exactly would a person steal money via wiring from someone else’s account, which is what Ohtani’s people seem to be alleging? Life if I use a shady ATM to withdraw 100 bucks my bank will text me to make sure it’s me - how would Ohtani not get notified about 4.5 MILLION dollars in bank transfers? Ippei was an interpreter, not an accountant? If you read Silver's piece, he explains it clearly. His relationship with the interpreter was very close, very personal. If he trusted him enough to have him acting as a personal secretary with access to the account, that's all it would take. This is a pretty generous interpretation for the Ohtani camp though. Even in Japan it is beyond abnormal to just give people open access to your bank.
|
|
|
Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 22, 2024 23:59:51 GMT -5
It isn't about generosity it's an answer to the question and nothing more. For context it was one of three scenarios laid out by Silver including the idea that it was Ohtani's bet. Please read his entire narrative. Next question...
|
|
|
Post by julyanmorley on Mar 23, 2024 0:09:08 GMT -5
Not hard for me to believe that Ohtani's personal assistant that he spends all his time with would have permission to log in to his bank account. At his level of income for some personalities $5,000 or $10,000 expenses will round down to $0, so the money may have been freely flowing out of his coffers without a lot of questions asked.
|
|
|
Post by bluechip on Mar 23, 2024 6:56:34 GMT -5
If you read Silver's piece, he explains it clearly. His relationship with the interpreter was very close, very personal. If he trusted him enough to have him acting as a personal secretary with access to the account, that's all it would take. This is a pretty generous interpretation for the Ohtani camp though. Even in Japan it is beyond abnormal to just give people open access to your bank. It’s really not that abnormal for the wealthy to give trusted advisors access to their accounts. Ohtani is now at the level of wealth of a person that might have a family office. Of course, if Ohtani had a family office, they should have noticed the fund transfers.
|
|
|
Post by Underwater Johnson on Mar 23, 2024 9:02:19 GMT -5
Shoulda used bitcoin...
|
|
|
Post by iakovos11 on Mar 23, 2024 9:14:32 GMT -5
Despite it's classification as "cryptocurrency" bitcoin is not anonymous. Bitcoin's blockchain is aessentially a public ledger that records all transactions in a secure & transparent way. This is integral to the trust & reliability of bitcoin. It leaves a digital trail. You can use pseudonyms and multiple addresses to obfuscate what's going on, but skilled analysts can use techniques to identify patterns and uncover the identity behind the address/pseudonym. And your crypto exchange may require personal info that could be linked to your wallet (most of the safer, more trustworthy ones will).
|
|
|
Post by bluechip on Mar 23, 2024 9:57:28 GMT -5
Despite it's classification as "cryptocurrency" bitcoin is not anonymous. Bitcoin's blockchain is aessentially a public ledger that records all transactions in a secure & transparent way. This is integral to the trust & reliability of bitcoin. It leaves a digital trail. You can use pseudonyms and multiple addresses to obfuscate what's going on, but skilled analysts can use techniques to identify patterns and uncover the identity behind the address/pseudonym. And your crypto exchange may require personal info that could be linked to your wallet (most of the safer, more trustworthy ones will). This. The US government cracked tracking by the time they were prosecuting the Silk Road case.
|
|
|
Post by Underwater Johnson on Mar 23, 2024 11:12:10 GMT -5
Despite it's classification as "cryptocurrency" bitcoin is not anonymous. Bitcoin's blockchain is aessentially a public ledger that records all transactions in a secure & transparent way. This is integral to the trust & reliability of bitcoin. It leaves a digital trail. You can use pseudonyms and multiple addresses to obfuscate what's going on, but skilled analysts can use techniques to identify patterns and uncover the identity behind the address/pseudonym. And your crypto exchange may require personal info that could be linked to your wallet (most of the safer, more trustworthy ones will). This. The US government cracked tracking by the time they were prosecuting the Silk Road case. That does it. I'm switching to dogecoin.
|
|
|
Post by julyanmorley on Mar 23, 2024 23:20:18 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on Mar 25, 2024 4:37:16 GMT -5
So the player that comes up with a brilliant contract to avoid paying California taxes. If he simply moves after finishing out his contract. Is the same guy that doesn't notice $4.5 million missing? Who when notified says he's just paying his friends debts, then completely changes his story? Just my two cents, but yeah it's like Payton Manning saying it was my wifes.
|
|
jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 3,972
|
Post by jimoh on Mar 25, 2024 8:03:50 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by incandenza on Mar 25, 2024 8:18:39 GMT -5
Will he remain a Free man?
|
|
|
Post by patford on Mar 25, 2024 15:59:55 GMT -5
So the player that comes up with a brilliant contract to avoid paying California taxes. If he simply moves after finishing out his contract. Is the same guy that doesn't notice $4.5 million missing? Who when notified says he's just paying his friends debts, then completely changes his story? Just my two cents, but yeah it's like Payton Manning saying it was my wifes. It's so completely unbelievable the only reply to someone who buys his claim is to laugh in their face while poking them on the sternum with an index finger.
|
|
|
Post by Don Caballero on Mar 25, 2024 17:54:52 GMT -5
So the player that comes up with a brilliant contract to avoid paying California taxes. If he simply moves after finishing out his contract. Is the same guy that doesn't notice $4.5 million missing? Who when notified says he's just paying his friends debts, then completely changes his story? Just my two cents, but yeah it's like Payton Manning saying it was my wifes. Yeah, I’m calling bullsh*t in this one too. I don’t think Ohtani was gambling either, maybe it was an investment of some sorts.
|
|
|
Post by philsbosoxfan on Mar 25, 2024 18:25:50 GMT -5
Since it's some unsubstantiated stuff, I won't post them but some pretty damning comments that if true will make Pete Rose look like an alter boy.
if you are interested:
TimmySmokes @timmy_smokes i am Tim Lincecum
|
|
|
Post by julyanmorley on Mar 25, 2024 18:30:52 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by orion09 on Mar 25, 2024 20:13:37 GMT -5
Since it's some unsubstantiated stuff, I won't post them but some pretty damning comments that if true will make Pete Rose look like an alter boy. if you are interested: TimmySmokes @timmy_smokes i am Tim Lincecum Pretty damning tweets, but I have a hard time believing any of it is true. The account is someone who seems to be impersonating Tim Lincecum… but it’s not his real account and the account only has 1.4k followers. From previous tweets it appears to be a random Giants fan’s Twitter. So, my guess is just a random person making stuff up for attention.
|
|
cdj
Veteran
Posts: 14,020
|
Post by cdj on Mar 26, 2024 22:50:52 GMT -5
Yeah this guy absolutely gambled on baseball
|
|
|
Post by sxfan on Mar 27, 2024 0:05:02 GMT -5
We won't really know anything until the Feds/IRS starts charging Ohtani's interpreter or not in the next couple of months.
That being said, I'm almost 99 percent on Ohtani's side. From what I gather Ohtani is a guy who is pretty routine regimented. He sleeps 12 hours a day. When he's not sleeping half the day, he's at a facility working out or training for baseball. His whole life revolves around the game of baseball. It's pretty much a jailed experience for anyone who's on the outside looking in, but Ohtani's one goal is to be viewed as the best/most talented baseball player to ever live. He has that in his mind basically every single day.
The interpreters for Japanese MLB players are way more than just translators that show up to the ballpark. They handle the rental car situation, the food bills, the non food expenses. That means a guy like Ohtani's interpreter has access to Ohtani's credit cards, financial advisors, social security number, and bank accounts. If a guy like Ohtani, who doesn't focus on money, like at all, then it would be really easy for a guy with bad intentions who's close to Ohtani, to take advantage. Ohtani has the most cash flow I'm guessing than any other athlete in the world. He makes 50 million in endorsements alone each year.
I could be wrong and Ohtani is a kingpin back in Japan trying to grow some secret empire behind the scenes with all his money, but I seriously doubt it.
|
|
cdj
Veteran
Posts: 14,020
|
Post by cdj on Mar 27, 2024 0:14:29 GMT -5
If somebody stole 4.5 million from me I would certainly report it
|
|
|
Post by keninten on Mar 27, 2024 0:24:20 GMT -5
We won't really know anything until the Feds/IRS starts charging Ohtani's interpreter or not in the next couple of months. That being said, I'm almost 99 percent on Ohtani's side. From what I gather Ohtani is a guy who is pretty routine regimented. He sleeps 12 hours a day. When he's not sleeping half the day, he's at a facility working out or training for baseball. His whole life revolves around the game of baseball. It's pretty much a jailed experience for anyone who's on the outside looking in, but Ohtani's one goal is to be viewed as the best/most talented baseball player to ever live. He has that in his mind basically every single day.
The interpreters for Japanese MLB players are way more than just translators that show up to the ballpark. They handle the rental car situation, the food bills, the non food expenses. That means a guy like Ohtani's interpreter has access to Ohtani's credit cards, financial advisors, social security number, and bank accounts. If a guy like Ohtani, who doesn't focus on money, like at all, then it would be really easy for a guy with bad intentions who's close to Ohtani, to take advantage. Ohtani has the most cash flow I'm guessing than any other athlete in the world. He makes 50 million in endorsements alone each year. I could be wrong and Ohtani is a kingpin back in Japan trying to grow some secret empire behind the scenes with all his money, but I seriously doubt it. How can you possibly know any of this? Starting with the OJ trial, I have witnessed many people who say they know what is going on. Courts of law, investigators, eye witnesses to facts can`t always get it right but still put time and energy into trying to find the truth. Maybe you do know something we all don`t but this is basically how rumors start. As the rumor starts to roll, people not in the know will start using it as facts. It`s still a good idea to believe someone is innocent until proven guilty.
|
|
|
Post by patford on Mar 27, 2024 9:53:02 GMT -5
If somebody stole 4.5 million from me I would certainly report it This is highly suspicious. Does anyone even know where Mizuhara is at the moment? My assumption is he did not return to the U.S. with the Dodgers and charges will not be pressed by Ohtani. When questioned Ohtani's attorneys Blair Berk and Andrew Brettler gave this statement, "Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities." Yet when asked exactly who "the authorities" are they didn't respond.
|
|
|
Post by ematz1423 on Mar 27, 2024 11:01:53 GMT -5
If somebody stole 4.5 million from me I would certainly report it This is highly suspicious. Does anyone even know where Mizuhara is at the moment? My assumption is he did not return to the U.S. with the Dodgers and charges will not be pressed by Ohtani. When questioned Ohtani's attorneys Blair Berk and Andrew Brettler gave this statement, "Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities." Yet when asked exactly who "the authorities" are they didn't respond.
I'm no lawyer but would that aspect even be up to Ohtani? If the Ohtani camp's story is that the guy wired money without Ohtani knowing it then that would be wire fraud and would likely be a federal issue. At that point I don't think Ohtani would have any say on whether or not to charge.
|
|
|
Post by julyanmorley on Mar 27, 2024 11:12:52 GMT -5
Gonna be tough to win the case without Ohtani's cooperation given that this is all he said she said about who knew what about who was pressing buttons on Ohtani's computer.
If they think there was no theft then there are likely crimes committed by Ohtani/Mizuhana, but probably not ones that anyone ever actually gets prosecuted for. Maybe someone would like to go for it and be in the news a lot, or maybe not.
|
|
|