Bowyer repeats claim that Ohtani did not bet after ESPN released new Mizuhara interview audio

Matt Bowyer, the former bookie at the center of the Shohei Ohtani gambling case, said he still does not believe the Dodgers star placed bets with his illegal sportsbook after ESPN published expanded audio from Ippei Mizuhara’s initial interview. For high-risk payments players, the point is not the baseball drama; it is how fast a gambling allegation can move from rumor to wire-transfer scrutiny, crisis management, and reputational fallout.

1. Bowyer opened an Instagram live chat on Tuesday and said: “He did nothing wrong, I don’t believe he gambled.” The comment came after ESPN released new audio from Mizuhara’s original interview, which had drawn attention to the case again 30 months later.
2. The underlying dispute dates to 20 March 2024, when Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani had sent millions to accounts controlled by Bowyer to cover part of the interpreter’s gambling debts. Hours later, Mizuhara recanted, while Ohtani’s camp said he was the victim of a massive embezzlement.
3. ESPN reporter Tisha Thompson had spent months pursuing a tip about a major gambling story before the Dodgers and Padres opened the 2024 MLB season in Seoul with a two-game series. She was told by multiple sources about alleged wire transfers from a bank account bearing Ohtani’s name, including two wires of $500,000 each to accounts linked to Bowyer’s sports betting enterprise.
4. In the hours before that Seoul opener, Thompson received what later appeared to be faulty information tying Ohtani to the payments. After she contacted Ohtani’s representatives, she was called by Hiltzik Strategies, the crisis management firm retained by Ohtani, and Matthew Hiltzik later connected her with Mizuhara.
5. Bowyer is speaking publicly again after his release from prison this spring, and he told viewers he is hoping to attend a Dodgers game this season. Separately, Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton that his return to the mound will be delayed because of a biceps injury, even as he remains the overwhelming favorite for National League MVP.

One detail that matters for payments people: the case keeps circling back to bank transfers, account control, and who actually authorized what. That is the part that turns a sports scandal into an underwriting and monitoring problem.