NEW YORK - Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter has been charged with bank fraud for stealing millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Dodgers player to cover gambling debts, US officials announced at a news conference on April 11.

Ippei Mizuhara is accused of stealing more than US$16 million (S$21 million) from an account of Ohtani’s that Mizuhara had helped set up, and sending the funds to an illegal sports gambling operation, according to US Attorney E. Martin Estrada.