Introducing 'The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani'

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Listen to Murder in the Heartland, wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, 2020 listeners! Today we've got something special for you from our colleagues at ESPN and 30 for 30. It's the first two episodes of a striking new crime series called The Betrayal of Shoheotani. What happens when the person you trust most betrays you?

That's the question at the heart of this new series. Japanese baseball superstar Shoheotani and his interpreter Epamousihara were one of the most famous bromances in professional sports. They were seen together nearly all the time, labeled the best friends, until it all fell apart.

Because of 19,000 bets, 17 million stolen and the wild world of sports gambling.

It's a story you might have heard about, but it turns out what was reported in the news was just the beginning. Today we're bringing you episodes one and two of this six episode season.

“If you want to listen to the rest, search 30 for 30 podcasts, or the Betrayal of Shoheotani,”

or ever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for listening. It's November 2024, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in their home stadium, celebrating their World Series win. The players line up on the podium. Team manager Dave Roberts takes the mic and introduces

some of the stars. And then he calls out the name, "Everyone's waiting for."

Shoheotani just finished his first season with the Dodgers.

He's a head taller than a lot of his teammates, and he's wearing a T-shirt and backwards

“ball cap when he gives a shy grin as he takes the mic.”

This is one of the first times that Shoheotani has spoken publicly in English without an interpreter. That's all he says, and the crowd absolutely loves it. By any measure, Shoheotani's first season with the Dodgers was extraordinary. One of a kind player, one of a kind season. Shoheotani starts the 50/50 cog.

Many believe he could become the best baseball player of all time. It's really not hypervaly guys to say that Shoheotani is the new Bay Brew. It's the kind of success that helps overshadow what happened just months before at the start of this season. When Shoheotani was caught up in a scandal that could have ended it all. We're going to turn to the scandal rocking Major League Baseball.

Shoheotani is set to address the media today. This scandal has the potential to be one of the biggest sports scandals that we've ever seen. Certainly one of the biggest baseball scandals that we've ever seen. Our team at ESPN broke the story. It tied the money of one of the highest paid players in baseball history

to a vast illegal sports betting operation. But when it was over, he would walk away. And someone else, someone close to him, would confess to a shocking crime, disappearing in disgrace. And in this moment at the World Series celebration, you could almost forget it ever happened. But two years later, I still have so many questions.

So I'm going to travel the country, chase down leads, and try to understand how one of sports

I'm the greatest player that has ever played the game.

Several investigations, questions, that wire transfers four and a half million dollars was a southern California bookmaker.

And he has no idea of it. I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson from 30 for 30 podcasts. This is the betrayal of Shoheotani. Episode 1, The Letter O. The Hulu Original Series Furious, now stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

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And sign up to play the number one fantasy game. I started working on this story a year before Shohei won that World Series. When a source sent me a tip.

At first, the tip seemed to have nothing to do with baseball or any sport.

It was information from a federal court document still underseal. A list of items that had been seized from a house in California. It included the kinds of things you might expect from a federal raid. Computers, hard drives, and cell phones. But there were also $40,000 brightening watches.

Handbags from Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Casino chips. Lots and lots of casino chips. Why were the feds interested in it? Because all of these things were taken from a house owned by a man named Mad Boyer. The feds also seized a cash counting machine sports betting records and receipts for offshore bank wires.

“And that's when I say to myself, I think Mad Boyer is a bookie.”

A person who takes bets pays them out when they win and collects when they lose. My source confirms that Mad Boyer is a bookie. But he isn't just any bookie. According to my source, his clients include celebrities, millionaires. And seemingly, one of the most famous athletes in the world.

When my source tells me the name of that athlete, it's a name so big, so shocking that all I write down is the letter O. You tell me the name of the athlete involved and that the feds are involved in an investigation. And that is why we have to be so careful. This is my editor, Elaine Tang.

We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact. We have to be really careful about going out and saying, "Hey, like, do you think it's show-hey Otani gambling with a bookie?" This tip was so potentially damning. We needed to tread really carefully because it could turn into a very grown-up version of that kids game, telephone. Where someone whispered something to someone and then they whispered to someone else.

And by the time it comes back to you, it's totally different from what you said. I couldn't just ask sources questions like, "Hey, to show a gamble. Even if the answer was no, they might tell someone else in the clubhouse that ESPN was asking if show-hey gambled." And then that person says to someone else, "Hey, I heard show-hey gambles. By the time I call several someone's later, that person then says to me, "Oh yeah, I have heard he gambles.

All I have done is confirm a rumor that I started. A rumor about show-hey Otani paying millions of dollars to any legal bookie."

To the athlete, their reputation, their career.

It's a very serious allegation. I want to learn everything I can about what someone could get themselves into betting with a bookie. So I head to the sports betting epicenter of the country. We are in Las Vegas, baby. I'm in Las Vegas to meet with the reporter.

“I think knows more about bookies and sports betting than anyone else in the business.”

What do you think the biggest money maker is for the, uh, the female? Any slide? That's correct.

This is ESPN's David Curtis.

I met him in a casino just off the Vegas strip. We sit down in a room near the sports book, watching as people place beds. Did they put the sports book in the back on purpose? Make you walk through all the Uniflog machines. I wanted to talk to Perdem about the tip I received because he has a massive roll of decks of sources in the sports betting world.

Have you ever heard of Matt Boyer before? I had not. I never heard of him. We gave you Matt Boyer's name and you called sources. We do the David Perdem magic and disappear for 12 hours and came back with info.

Right. I usually go to you start with your guys that you know have had this. And when they didn't know, I had to expand and I did and found some people with that new of him. And then when we found out that he was coming to Vegas a lot, I talked to people here and they knew of him. A source warned Perdem that Boyer was connected to a man with a dangerous reputation.

A guy named Owen Hansen. A former USC football player who became known as the cocaine QB. When I got the original tip, Hansen was in prison for bookmaking and drug trafficking. And was rumored to have ties to the cartel. We had a source who was involved with running money for that group.

And he was telling us to be careful. Right. Because Owen Hansen was not known as a good person. He was known as a violent person around the betting community. And when we were just ties to Boyer, there was concern.

Over the next few weeks, we gathered more sources. And confirmed Boyer was running a huge sports book operation in Southern California.

“Is California more prolific with bookies than other parts of the world?”

Massive massive bookmaking operations in California. Because there's no legal sportsmen. Sports betting is now legal in 39 states, plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Depending on where you live, you can place bets through a state license app, a website, or in a casino or a bar in those states. But unless you're betting on a horse race, sports betting in California is illegal.

There is no legal way to place a sports bet there. Not on draft kings, not on fan duel, not in the tribal casinos. So if you live in California and you want to bet on sports, you either have to go somewhere like Vegas or find a bookie. Which is, of course, illegal. But there are many reasons why someone might want to use a bookie, even if the state they live in has legal sports betting.

Herdum says, "A big reason is credit." People want to bet on credit. You don't want to give over your cash. If you can bet on credit, huge advantage.

I can just place my bet for $100 in my money. Never change his hands.

You go down a thousand bucks. Guys, it's okay. Let's meet up at the Waffle House.

“And you go there and you pass over and envelope. And that's how it's done.”

Another reason someone might seek out a bookie is anonymity. If you are an athlete, betting with the draft kings, there's a chance that we could find it. But if you can be betting with this illegal sports book over here, I would not be able to know it. So Pernum says a celebrity who wants to bet discreetly might use a bookie. When I told him that show Hay O'Tani was the athlete my source told me might be involved with Matt Boyer.

I was stunned. I remember when he relayed the message to who the athlete was. I was like, "Oh my gosh, I believe I cursed." Why is sports betting such a sensitive topic for major league baseball? Well, you start with the black socks way back at the beginning of the century. The Chicago White socks, several players of them got engaged with some criminals.

And they allegedly agreed to throw a world series.

And after that scandal, the league created a set of rules about betting on sports.

“It forbids players, coaches, and staff from using a bookie. And you may never bet on baseball.”

So that was the big one. The next time you get some sort of betting scandals, P-Rose. Number 4192, bank speed rules, the all-time major league baseball hit leader. All-time hits leader. He would eventually admitted to betting on the game of baseball. I just stupid. Worst thing he ever did in my life. In 1989, MLB punished P-Rose with a lifetime ban for betting on baseball.

P-Rose was one of the greatest ball players of his generation.

He holds records that have never been broken, but all of his feats on the field have been overshadowed by what he did off the field.

“Could show Heyotani the greatest player of his generation be the next P-Rose?”

If they were to have found out that he was betting on baseball, you would have been banned for life. And this is your biggest star, banned for life. Part of what made the allegations so shocking was how show Heyotani had a reputation for being squeaky clean. Before this, there's never been a whisper of a scandal attached to his name, which makes it all the more surprising to hear allegations that he might be tied to a bookie with dangerous connections.

But we realized we don't actually know all that much about show his life outside of baseball. He is the most guarded and protected athlete that I think I've ever been around. This is ESPN's Tim Qun. Tim specializes in writing profiles of the most famous and often times controversial names and sports.

People like Barry Bonds, Aaron Rodgers, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Tim says he's been trying to decipher the enigma that a show Heyotani ever since he first arrived here in the United States.

When he came here, I first started observing him knowing that I was going to have to observe him to write about him rather than talk to him because it was established early on that it was a dead end. He will only take questions about the game and very few, three, maybe four in each language and these are in like bit questions. I want to know, like, you just threw 117 pitches. What do you feel today? And he would not. He just doesn't entertain those. He's just not built that way. Tim says most of what you know about show Heyotani is limited to what show Heyotani is willing to tell you and it rarely leaves the realm of the ballpark and when it does, it's on show Heyotani's terms.

Like when he got married, people didn't even know show Heyotani was in a relationship until he posted about his wife on Instagram. He has lots of titles MVP gazillionaire superstar, but husband had alluded to him until now and he made the announcement where else, but on social media. It reads not only have I begun a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also have begun a new life with someone from my native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married.

Show Heyotani's teammates and even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't know about it. I thought he was a good timing because it's before the season. I didn't want really any distractions. The season started.

“I think there is this sort of the aura, right? Like just leave him alone to do what he does because the distractions are not something he's interested in.”

He's not interested in talking to me to be honest. He does it as an obligation after he pitches. He hits two home runs in a game. He'll stand there and answer questions in the most.

Anodine wave possible. Are you nervous at all? Playing in the postseason for the first time?

No. But the league, the teams and the fans don't seem to mind not knowing much about show his life off the field because what's happening on the field is record breaking. He's really challenged our idea of limits because he has shown his talent to be limitless. He does the two things that excite baseball people more than anything else. He can throw a baseball over 100 miles an hour and he can hit a ball 500 feet.

It's like the two headline acts of baseball. He is among the best in the world at both if not the best. There goes no tally. It's a lead-off home run after he struck out three at the top of the first. He is a dream for Major League Baseball. And the Dodgers rewarded him in the fall of 2023 with a record breaking contract.

$700 million. Over 10 years.

“One of the league's premier franchises made a historic bet on show hay because they knew his success would be their success.”

They stood to make a lot of money too. Take it sales, merchandise, partnerships, show hay success could pay off big time for the Dodgers and MLB. Show hay himself makes more than $125 million in endorsements a year with much of that money coming from advertisements in Japan. When I was there, I was shocked by you could literally not walk more than two blocks in Tokyo without seeing his face on something. Whether it was a green tea or a water sports drink or Hugo Boss or something.

I mean, everywhere is Otoni. After touching down in Tokyo, it's easy to see Otoni Mania is really a thing. Everyone in Japan is by default a show hay fan. The appetite for Otoni. The love for Otoni appears to be as limitless as his talent. If show his reputation takes a hit, it wouldn't just turn his name.

It would have devastating consequences for the Dodgers for major league baseball in for Japan.

“When you were first told that Otoni might be involved in some kind of betting scandal, what was your initial reaction?”

shock, shock combined with sort of a reassessment of everything I had seen leading up to that. Plus another layer of like who knows.

I've been investigating this tip for two months when in January 2024, a source tells me to look at a different player who may be a critical link.

David Fletcher was an infielder for the Los Angeles Angels. He and show hay played together for six seasons and Tim tells me it was widely known that they were friends. They played bumper pull together and they played clash of clans and was just this sort of, you know, buddy comedy. This little white guy and this big Japanese guy buddy and around. Fletcher's social media shows he is an avid poker player.

And only he broadcasts it, but I don't think he hit it.

“And his love of poker would end up being vital to our investigation.”

When I call him in January, Fletcher admits to me he knows Matt Boyer. They hit golf together, but he wouldn't call them friends.

Fletcher tells me he heard that Boyer might be a bookie, but he insists he's never bet with Boyer.

Worried about spreading a rumor, I don't ask if Boyer is show his bookie, I don't ask anything about show hay. By this point, I've developed more sources and I learned there is a paper trail that connects Show Hay Otani to Matt Boyer. And I've tracked down a source who has that proof, but they're nervous and it takes weeks before the source agrees to show it to me and they're not going to make it easy. It's the middle of the night, I'm driving to meet my contact. I find them standing outside of a car in a parking lot waiting for me.

I drop into the passenger seat. The contact hands me a cell phone and tells me the proof I want will appear on an encrypted app. And each image will disappear in 30 seconds. I can't take pictures, but I can take notes. I pull out my notebook and I tell my contact, I'm ready.

A document appears on the screen, September 14th, 2023, $500,000. I spot the word loan and scribble it down in my notebook, but I don't have time to ask questions because the second document appears. October 2, 2023, $500,000. Both documents include the same long list and numbers on the screen. Later, after I drive away, I will stare at the jumble of letters and numbers as scribbled into my notebook and I'll realize it's routing information.

I just saw wire transfers from a bank account at Bank of America, and there's a name attached to the account. Showhate Otani. According to the screenshots I just saw, Showhate Otani's bank account set wire transfers to map boys illegal bookmaking operation. I saw two of them totalling a million dollars. I've got it that direct link between Showhate and the bookies operation.

But before I can even begin to wrap my head around what I've seen, a source reaches out with new information and a new name. Interpreter, eBay, Mizuhara.

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If there's someone we know even less about than Shohei Otani, its EPA Misahara, Shohei's interpreter. His biography provided by the Los Angeles Angels says EPA was born in Japan but grew up in Southern California. Before he joined the Angels, EPA worked in Japan for the Niponham Fighter's Baseball Team

as an interpreter for American players. And that's where he met Shohei. And when Shohei signed with the Angels in December of 2017, he brought EPA along with him as his interpreter. I want to talk about why I joined the Angels.

But I want you guys to see me on the channel. I'm just with the team throughout the Spring Training.

“And maybe I think you guys will be find out why I chose the Angels.”

That was a right choice. Ever since they arrived in the States,

Shohei and EPA are always together.

With EPA seemingly just a few steps behind Shohei at all times. And EPA does a lot more than just translate. EPA carries Shohei's gear. When Shohei needs a ride, EPA drives him. When Shohei warms up for a game, he doesn't use a pitching coach.

He throws to EPA. When Shohei competed in the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby, he chose EPA to be his catcher. What a fun moment that's going to be for him. And hopefully he's not having a catch too much.

They walk red carpets together. teammates and others have even wondered if the two men live together. But they've never confirmed it. Your day in the life with Shohei. I mean, what do you guys do throughout the day before you even get here at the ballpark?

Well, we broke this every day. At the hotel on the road. It's not at home. It's pretty much it. It got to the point where, you know,

“I wondered how could you spend that much time with one person?”

When my colleague Tim Q and began to watch Shohei and EPA off the field, it was clear to him that EPA was different from other interpreters. To call him an interpreter is almost laughable, because that was almost the least important part of his job.

And the routine was always the same where Shohei would walk out onto the field.

And EPA was like two and a half to three steps behind. It was like a almost felt like a choreograph thing the way they went about it. The only time that Shohei seemed to be by himself, at least at the baseball field, was when he was in the batter's box or on the mound.

They appeared to be extremely close. There was no EPA without Shohei. It manifested itself in me by going to players and saying, Does it ever occur to you that these guys get sick of each other? The source told me they thought EPA might be taking the fall for Shohei,

but I didn't know what to think. The walls were so thick and so impenetrable, that I mean anything seemed possible, right? We didn't quite know what to make of the EPA connection. My editor Elaine and I spent weeks investigating the possibilities.

whether he was making the bets on Otani's behalf.

“We didn't know if it was a cover up, we didn't know if it's truth.”

But there are two people who we thought would know the truth. Shohei Otani hit EPA Mizahara. By March 2024, I've been working on this for five months, and we've collected enough information to go to Shohei's agent. In an email, I tell him.

I have sources who have told us about Shohei Otani's involvement with Mad Boyer. I purposely don't tell him that I know Mad Boyer is a bookie, or that I've heard EPA's name. I want to see what their response will be. To our later, I get a call from a publicist named Matt Hiltsick.

He tells me he specializes in what's called crisis communication, and Shohei's agent has just brought him on to represent Shohei. Some of Hiltsick's clients have included Hillary Clinton and Ivanka Trap, Brad Pitt, Ellen Baldwin, and Johnny Depp. When I tell him about the wire transfers that I saw,

Hiltsick says he needs to call me back.

“As I wait, I wonder, will they try to deny it?”

Will they threaten us with defamation? Or will they admit it? My phone rings again a few hours later. Hiltsick says, you're going to get a really good fucking story. You're going to get the truth about what happened.

And then he confirms it. It's true. Shohei's bank account wired millions of dollars to Boyer's operation. But he tells me someone else did the bets. Shohei was covering for someone else.

He says someone important to his life. I tell him, I have sources that tell me it's EPA. He says, you have good sources. I tell him, I want to interview Shohei Otani. He says, maybe, I have to see.

But I can give you someone else.

“I'm EPA, Mizohara, and you do have permission to record me.”

That's next on the portrayal of Shohei Otani. Economists and betters talk about something called The Black Swan. In event or series of events that's so rare, so unpredictable, no one would bet on it happening. March 19th, 2024 was My Black Swan.

Because the story we had been working on for five months would suddenly change over the next 24 hours.

Twisting and turning in ways I could never have expected.

And for reasons I'm still trying to understand. I had seen wire transfers that showed a bank account and Shohei Otani's name had wired millions to any legal bookmaking operation. And Shohei spokesperson confirmed it. But he told me that Shohei wasn't the one gambling.

He says it was his interpreter, EPA Mizohara. Shohei was just paying off EPA's debts. And now Shohei's team has offered me an interview with someone they said would clear this all up. All right.

I am Richard Thompson. I am recording this call. Go ahead and tell me who you are. And you have permission to record you. I just want me to pay Mizohara.

And you do have permission to record me.

I've never talked to EPA before.

But I instantly recognize his voice. It's the voice of Shohei Otani. Whenever Shohei talks to reporters in Japanese, it's EPA who translates his words into English. I've been warned by ESPN's baseball reporters that he paid

doesn't say much. I'm not sure he'll give me anything more than a prepared statement. And I don't know how much time I'll get with him. But I've been investigating this story for five months. And I have a lot of questions about how Shohei and his money

got tied up in all of this. What he pays role was. And I wonder if what EPA tells me will hold up to my line of questioning. I reach EPA in South Korea.

He's in Seoul with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are set to play the San Diego Padres in just a few hours. It's the opening game of the MLBC season. All right.

What I would like to do is have you tell me you're sowing your words. Okay.

Shohei Otani is about to play his first regular season game

And he will deliver. He'll get his first hit. His first steal.

His first RBI for the Dodgers.

But that will not be the top headline tomorrow. Because his interpreter is about to steal the show. I'm ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson. From 30 for 30 podcasts. This is the betrayal of Shohei Otani.

Episode 2. The interview. In a sunny California in summer, one family's home is unusually quiet. When detectives walked into that house,

they said that it was like time just stood still. It's 2010, and the mixed day family is nowhere to be found. Inside the home, no clear answer where the family could have gone. husband, wife, and two children.

Gone, like, puff disappeared. The search for the mixed days quickly captures the nation. But for years, the search for answers only brings more questions.

“Who's ever heard of an entire family going missing?”

A family of four doesn't just drop off the face of the earth with no contact. Is this a family on the run? Or is the truth far more sinister? For maybe see audio in 2020, this is what happened to the mixed days. Coming August 11th, wherever you get your podcasts,

or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts for ad free episodes, early access to new episodes, and so much more. I'm the only reporter EPA ever spoke to about this story. It's now been more than two years since we had this call. And every time I listen to it, I hear it differently.

When the interview starts, my first goal is to get an understanding of how

the bookie at the center of this story, Matt Boyer, came into the picture. By now, I've confirmed that Boyer is under federal investigation, and the wire transfers I saw. The ones with show his name on them went to Boyer's operation. So what I'm going to do is start at what I think is the beginning. Can you tell me how you met that Boyer?

That's gone. So I met him at a local poker game. Can you show his interpreter? He kind of approached me saying he's like a fan. Can you tell you what he did for a living?

She told me that he has a sports book. A sports book is just a place that takes sports bets. It can be a brick and mortar building or an app or a website. EPA tells me he'd bed in Las Vegas sports books in the past, and he was bedding once in a while on draft kinks.

He says he didn't realize that Boyer's sports book was different that it was illegal. I thought it was legal this whole time. And once I found out that this had to be investigated when it was two, three days ago.

That's what I found out. And I was pretty shocked to hear that.

“So when you started your account, did you have to give like a credit card”

or put some cash in or anything like that? No, he had a credit line. Okay, I'll shut up for me. EPA is telling me that when he logged onto his account with Boyer, there was already credit there for him to use.

A legal sports book will never give gamblers credit up front.

That's one of the main draws for any legal sports book. No money down. Did that raise a red flag for you? Unfortunately, it didn't have to sign. Okay.

What did you bet on? What were you betting on? I bet on some football basketball soccer. Not baseball. I never got on baseball overseas, domestic anything.

That's 100%. I knew that. I knew that rule.

“He did. And that rule was the way to rule, which rule?”

Not to bet on baseball. Who told you that? Well, we have a meeting about that in screen changing. Okay. You must think, go down baseball ever.

But it was okay to bet on other sports, other than baseball. It's my understanding. This tracks with major league baseball's rules on sports betting. Players and team employees can bet on sports. But they may not bet on baseball.

And they cannot use a bookie. Did anyone ever tell you that you couldn't use a bookmaker?

But he paced as once he met the bookie,

“he began to rack up millions of dollars in debt.”

Why were you doing that? What was it doing for you? Okay. At the time, I couldn't share this with so many people. It was hard for me to make my end meet.

I was calling for a paycheck to pay. Because I kind of have to keep up with his lifestyle. But at the same time, I didn't want to tell him this. Obviously ended up being the worst case scenario. I didn't want to go, I didn't want to go to him.

I didn't want to go to him for help financially. It felt like that.

I was trying to make ends meet on my side.

And I was in debt a little bit. And I was with all of my parents and friends. But I started gambling because the fact they said he's going to give me some credit. I felt like I had a chance to kind of explore money back. It's all lower into the work situation.

I'm wondering if this response might be rehearsed. It feels like a clean answer that just came pouring out of EPA in one go. Before this, the most we had ever heard him speak, was when he interpreted show-haze words. He rarely ever spoke about himself.

I'm curious. You were talking about how you couldn't keep up with show-haze life style. You didn't tell him that, but you couldn't do it. How much do you make each year? That's the time of making about 85,000 followers here.

This is 2021-ish. Yes.

“Okay. Did you start to make more than that over the next couple of months or years?”

Well, now with the dollars, I am making more money. And last year, the angels became here pretty good, ladies. Okay. I have been told you make roughly $300,000. Is this going to go out on the story?

I've had someone tell me it's $300,000. If that is incorrect, I want to know. Okay. Well, my new deal with the dollars is a little bit more than that. Okay. Is it more than $500,000?

No. Okay. Back in 2021 with his $85,000 year salary, E.P. says it was tough to make ends meet. So, when Boarder Sports Book offered him credit, he says it seemed like a chance to make some money.

So, did he go bad quickly? Or did you win some money?

I never test out. I'm terrible.

I'm never going to do it ever again. I never want any money from there. You really? I just kept on digging a deeper hole. I just couldn't get out of this.

Did you tell anyone? No. I did not. Why? Many of you have been embarrassing. Yeah.

“You know, my wife goes in with an all-ball and you're good.”

Until even right now. Okay. She's with us in Korea right now. She's like having a great time with like sorry families. And my heart's shaking.

She's ripping off heart every minute. She's seen notice that. I'm like, we are tapping with it. Just kind of like call her right now. It's really the whole trip.

E.P. pauses. And another voice jumps into the conversation. His name is Matt Hiltsick. He shows Hayo Tonny's spokesperson and he's been listening in on this call the whole time. When he speaks up here, he tells E.P.

We're all here for you. And we're all going to help you. He says, we care about you as a person.

I wonder if he is talking to E.P.

“Or if this speech is actually meant for me.”

Because the spokesperson was hired to protect and show Hayo's reputation, he doesn't represent E.P. or E.P.'s interests. He tells E.P. we just want the truth. When he stops talking, I take my cue to continue.

How much do you estimate you lost overall with lawyers operation? One thing that I would like to keep this close is possible. I mean, it's really embarrassing. It's a mom just out and it's also longer right today.

Keep it this close. I had seen the wires showing that Show Hayo Tonny's bank account had sent money to the bookies operation.

Multiple sources have told me at least $4.5 million

left Show Hayo's account. But I've heard it could be a lot more. Maybe as much as $16 million. I have sourcing that says that lawyers operation was paid at least $4.5 million.

What is your response to that? Well, I'm not looking for it. I'm pretty accurate. Is it more than that? I don't think so.

Okay.

“For people who have never been in this place,”

how do you get to $4.5 million? Is it because you keep hoping, for instance, that the next bet is going to bail you out? Or, you know, for someone who doesn't know what it's like, how do you get to $4.5 million?

Oh, I mean, my dog might fall for hole and get him bigger, and it's meant I had that bigger to get out of that one. Just kept on losing. It's like a snowball effect.

How did you start paying him back? Well, it's for Drexel and I have to go to ShowHage for help. E-Pay is about to explain why the money was coming from ShowHage Bank account, even though E-Pay is the one gambling. By 2023, E-Pay had racked up millions of dollars in debt

and to pay off those debts, he says he goes to ShowHage. How did that go down? Well, I explained my situation with going on and why I found this much of a debt.

“And obviously, I mean, he wasn't happy about it,”

but ShowHage was helping out.

Make sure, like, I never do this again.

And that's pretty much what happened. And she decided to pay it off for me. Did he offer, did you ask? I asked. How do you ask someone?

I mean, it's been characterized to me that the two of you are best friends, that you were as close as brothers. You know, like, how would you care to raise your relationship with him?

Oh, please. Yes, best friends. We are like brothers. I mean, what's so that every day? Yeah.

I'm more timetable to my wife probably. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, do you like the families to me? Yeah.

E.P. and ShowHage were always around each other.

There seemed to be a genuine closeness between them. Tim saw it, others did too. And now, E.P. says they really are that close. Was it hard to come to him or was it easy? Because you are.

I call her. Extremely hard. Yeah. I didn't want, like, also laughing, I wanted to. I mean, in the city, I don't want to grow to him.

About making my ends meet. And this was on another level. Yeah. Really, really difficult. Were you frightened?

Yes. In that moment, when you went to him, what were you afraid of? Yeah. I mean, a lot of things.

I mean, it's just that we built up. Yeah. I'm afraid I might go away. Making my people meet differently.

Yeah.

“Were you afraid to your safety or anything like that?”

Safety? Mm-hmm. I mean, yeah, I was.

I wasn't because I was in almost there.

I didn't know. Yeah. I was going to come to my house on the other side. Yeah. I had those kind of rods too.

I'm intrigued by E.P.'s response. His initial fear is what his debt will do to his relationship with Shohei. But when I bring up his safety, he says, yes, he was afraid. But he's told me he thought this was a legal sports book. So why would he be afraid?

Legal sports books don't come knocking at your door to collect their debts. So, I would like to get into the specifics of what Shohei offered you. When you told him you were in trouble, you said you asked him for help. And did you ask him for money? I asked him if he could pay my debt off.

He had to give this some thoughts. He had he ever gambled himself? I'm sorry. You're aware? I'm aware?

I'm aware. Ever.

“I think guaranteed a semi-life on the line.”

He's never placed any sports books ever in this life.

He says Shohei would even talk about how much he dislikes gambling. He thinks gambling is terrible, and obviously he doesn't need the money. How do you know he thinks gambling is terrible? Well, he sees, but like people, like our teammates would be gambling all the time. He'll be like, why are these doing this like gambling is not good?

When he would make comments like that, how would that make you feel internally? Well, I'm terrible. Yeah. So, that makes it even harder to go to. Oh, I wouldn't imagine.

Sure. It feels very hard to go to him. You said he went to go think about it.

So, what does he come back to you with?

Like, walk me through that conversation. Yeah. So, you'll next time I see him. We show him a flower. I'm just going to pay the fall off.

We make sure, like, we go everywhere and see this shit again. Let me know. That was basically it. He was pretty, like, sort and simple. Can you get Scott's how to pay it off?

Yeah, he asked me how, like, what do I need to do? Like, I got into wider information for... Because it's boy or succumb. Can you reach out to Bora to get it? Yeah.

I'm getting really granular here because I want to know exactly. Step by step, what the process was that led to those wire transfers. If what E.P. saying is true, what role did Shohe play in sending money to any legal bookie?

“Sir, did you send him a text message with an email?”

Did he send it to you? Did you, like, how does this work? I think he texted me as, um, fire and fall. So, you, you turn around and, and say to Shohe, here's the wire transfer information.

Do you show it to him on your phone? Do you text it to him? Do you do it for him? Like, how does that go? Um, I do this on those behalf.

Okay. Oh, sweet position. So, do you have access to his bank account? No, I don't. Okay.

So, when you say you did it on his behalf, it's completely how that works. And he was with me, falls with him on his laptop or computer. And he was logging online banking and sending a wire. E.P. says Shohe knew about the wires. He says that he sent them together.

My adrenaline is pumping. If that's true, he's just put Shohe's fingerprints on the transaction.

E.P. says Shohe was involved by telling me this.

By admitting this, he's directly implicating Shohe and sending millions to an illegal bookmaking operation that's under investigation for money laundering.

“I'm wondering, does E.P. realize what he just said?”

When an investigative reporter reaches out about a story that connects a celebrity to potential scandal, it usually kicks off a careful PR response. But here is E.P. possibly implicating Shohe in something that could jeopardize his career. Was this the plan? Is he going off script?

Has my line of questioning forced him to reveal something he didn't mean to? Because the spokesperson doesn't intervene. So I keep going.

What was his understanding of who Boyer was?

Did he know that that was a bookie? I don't think he had any clue who he was or what he did. I just told him that this is the guy that I didn't find the lawyer to mail up to that. He didn't say have you done anything illegal or anything like that? No, I don't think he's questioning about that.

One of the things that we know about the transfers is that it says loan on them. And I'm curious why it says loan. Well, you have to add a description for the lawyer. Mm-hmm.

“I think that my point is to loan or you have to put something there.”

If you hire a real loan to someone, you don't pay income taxes on it. But if you lie about it, and it's not actually a loan, your potentially committing tax fraud. I would be interested in seeing any kind of tax messages or communications from that. Um, I believe that every tax I have was not.

Up until this point, I've let E.P. tell me his story and his words. I haven't really pushed back on what he says for a reason. I wanted to see where he would go with it. But now I need to challenge some of what he's told me. So, and forgive me for this, E.P.

This is a lot of money. You tell him you're in trouble. You know it's for gambling. Mm-hmm. You really did expect there and think about whether this is legal or not.

Me? Yeah.

I never really crossed my mind ever.

This is like a legal at all. I feel a couple of days ago when I found out that there was a investigation going on. Okay. Did you think at any point by asking, show hey, to pay your debt, but he would potentially be committing.

He would be putting himself, frankly, in the situation we're in right now, where there would be questions about legality. I don't think you either of us think about that on the time. I don't know at all.

“Do you have the kind of relationship where he does things without questioning it?”

This spokesperson jumps in here. He says to E.P. He wasn't happy with you, right? No. Yeah.

You're assuming you're not happy. E.P. tells me, "Boy are wanted the money in a lump sum, but they could only send the wires in $500,000 installments." He says he and show hey, send about eight or nine payments over the course of several months in 2023. That matches what my sources have told me.

After you tell him about your situation, he begins to make these payments on your behalf. Did it or how did it change your relationship with him? Honestly, to be honest, in the beginning, I felt really uncomfortable, as hard as I can.

But the life side, I mean, is a great guy. And he must see you in on his life like nothing ever happened. Show hey, going on with his life in 2023, equated to hitting 44 home runs and earning the MVP award in the American League. And now E.P. is telling me that all that time,

he and show hey, found the time to sit down together and secretly wire millions of dollars to Boyer's Operation.

I mean, it seems I got back to what I was before.

I mean, for me, I felt really uncomfortable for the first few weeks.

And I really, really guilty and felt terrible, but I mean, he kind of helped that goal away. But you had to keep making these payments. Yes.

“Did you have to keep having this conversation?”

I have, but he knew the whole now. And he knew that we had to make several payments, because you can send more than 500,000 out of time. Mm-hmm. So it was like, I, it was like, I asked him every week, like, oh, sorry, this came up again.

It wasn't like that. How was it?

I thought, when the beginning, when I told him, like, this is how much I'm in that.

I was so whole now. But he knew that he had to pay that whole amount off for me. And it's going to be an increment. So, would you go to him and remind him, would he just do it of his own volition? No, I would go and do it with him every time.

And it just became normal. It wasn't awkward. Like, it wasn't the beginning. Is that what you're saying? Yes.

“For me, I mean, it was all, I felt, how does every time?”

You're right. You're right. But he didn't make a big deal out of it. No. Yeah.

How did you feel about that? Explain to me how that made you feel? I mean, it's very appreciated, obviously, but at the same time. So, it's really, really, I can feel the guilt trip, like, really guilty, terrible.

And I mean, ever since that day, like, I was always in the dark when my mind is haunting me every day.

I always think about it, like, it's always there in my head. Unless it's irrevocably. Um, did you offer to ever pay him back? Or was this, you know, I'm going to pay this. And we'll cool.

Or did you say, let me try to make some of this back? Well, I'm going to pay him back. If I want to pay him back, if I want to pay him back, if I take a lot of life, even if he says no or anything on it, make all that effort to pay him back. What's really important to me is that I understand correctly about why I would pay any legal bookmaker directly from his bank account. And call it alone, rather than just giving money to you, he pay, pay off your debts.

Oh, I'm so, I mean, we didn't know that. This is a legal, this is a normal. I think that's very important. He didn't want to meet you again, the money to me, and he didn't want me to check out my wallet off again, so he wanted me to go back to the debt. Like my source head predicted, E.P. is taking the blame.

He says he was the gambler, and he asked Showhade to pay off his debts.

“But there's a critical question that I've been building to here, which is simply, why should I believe E.P.?”

What does it think that's been said to me, is that Otani owes for your money? And I want to understand why it would be characterized that way to me. I would have no idea why. That would say that. His name is on the bank statements, his name is on the wires.

I mean, there's going to be, there's going to be people wondering is it Otani who did it, and you're taking the ball for him? So I want to give you a chance to respond to that. This spokesperson jumps in before E.P. can say anything. He tells me, E.P. is already answered the question that he spent the last hour sharing his story.

But I push back. No, I don't know, but I want to give E.P. a chance to respond to that criticism. You know, I'm anticipating, oh, he's just taking the ball for Otani.

Well, I was so ahead and never, ever met that boy or ever talked to him.

So there would be no way that to make it up. I mean, been doing this on his own anything, and it was all me. And hundreds of them choose, and all so hey, they'll pay it all for me. And there's like not much more than that.

“So was there any kind of conversation between the two of you that, like, his name is now going to be on the wire transfer?”

He's now connected. He's he where I'm getting, like, he's connected to this now. His name, you know, whether it's legal or not. His name is now connected to someone that you owe money to. And he's going to get pulled into this now.

Was there, was there really no conversation, like, of now your name's attached to this? It really wasn't because I said earlier. We thought, you know, this was illegal. We didn't really think about anything on with struggles with this name being involved with this.

But obviously, if I knew this was illegal, then I was never to show his name into any of this.

This is when the spokesperson interjects again. This time telling me, there's no cover up. I never said the word cover up, but the spokesperson doubles down saying, if people say this is just a cover up, it's the worst cover up in history. Like, you're denying there's any kind of cover up here. There's absolutely no cover up.

Okay. That's all.

“What was your best level of fundamental reaction when you learned that map was under investigation?”

Was it scared more than anything around at this moment? What are you scared about at this moment? The media, not necessarily the federal investigators or something like that. Well, I'm not too sure what's going on with the whole federal investigation thing. I just, you know, that does an investigation.

I don't know any more details. Has anyone reached out to you from the federal government? No, never. Has anyone reached out to still hate about these things transferred from the federal government? No, not that I'm a little.

She would tell me if someone would. We've now been talking for about 80 minutes, and this spokesperson is interrupting more and more. I can feel that my time is running out and I'm worried he's going to try to end the interview. I'm getting very close to the end, guys, because I know you're watching the clock. Um, just very much.

I can. I can go. Yeah. I have time tomorrow to call out for tonight. I'll see you again.

eBay thinks we're going to have the chance to talk again. He and I seem to have a very different understanding of the gravity of what he's told me. I think he's going to be fired. He may be an even more trouble. I don't know either way. I don't think they're ever going to let me talk to him again.

“What have I not asked you that you think is really important that people understand that you want folks to know?”

Um, obviously, I want everyone to know that. So they have zero involvement in the betting. Want to make that clear. And they want people know that I did not know this will be legal. And obviously, I've learned my question in a very long way. And I take it to the heart. I take it to my heart.

And I will never ever be expecting.

Ever again.

Are you prepared to face the consequences if they fall and want to say baseball?

I mean, the Dodgers are major league baseball decides to take action. Yes, I'm fully prepared to face any and all consequences. After I hang up with E. Pay, I begin to type out my story. E. Pay Me Zahara says he lost millions of dollars in bets with an illegal bookmaker. And his best friend, Shoheotani, someone he says he is closer to than a brother,

offered to pay off his debts.

“At least, that's what the article was going to say.”

[MUSIC] A few hours after I get off the phone with E. Pay, the opening day game of the 2024 MLB season gets underway. So please, welcome to the field. Let's stop, put your said reserves. The Dodgers versus the Padres.

The two American teams are a go-chucks guy dumb in Seoul, South Korea. A morning baseball back in the United States evening here at Seoul. I'm watching the game on my laptop while I work on my story. All eyes are on Shoheotani. But at this moment, I don't really care about what's happening on the field.

I'm waiting for the cameras to cut away to the dugout, waiting, watching for E. Pay. What does he look like? Is he tired? Because I'm exhausted.

I never went to bed, and it's now six o'clock in the morning on the east coast.

Well, he looks stressed.

“Will Shoheotani be able to look him in the eye?”

Because E. Pay's made a mess, and now Shoheotani's people are going to have to clean it up. And here in Shoheotani, for the first time in Los Angeles, larger uniform. E. Pay has just confessed to an ESPN reporter that he racked up millions of dollars of debt, on sports, and that he and Shohe set money to an illegal bookmaking operation.

In just a couple of hours, we're planning to publish my article that will reveal both of these things to the world. But instead of looking like two men who are in trouble, and whose relationship I would think would be under considerable stress, they're laughing.

Standing next to each other in the dugout, watching the game, Shoheotani and E. Pay are laughing together. Very little surprises me these days. But that, the two of them laughing, I was stunned. The Dodgers beat the podjrays five to two.

As the team walks off the field, into the locker room, we're in the final stages of putting our story together. But less than 15 minutes before we're set to publish, I get a call from Shoheotani spokesperson Matt Hildsick. When I pick up, he shouts into the phone.

E. Pay lied.

Matt Hildsick is freaking out in a way I've never before experienced

in my career. He's frantic telling me that Shoheotani just now learned about the transfers from his account, just now in the locker room. He says Shoheotani had no idea E. Pay was using his money to pay off the debts, and that the whole thing was a lie.

He says he's still trying to figure out what happened and hangs up. Not long after, I get a statement from Otani's lawyers. It says, in the course of responding to recent media and queries, we discovered that Shoheotani has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.

I call E. Pay, I don't record it, everything is moving too fast. I read him the statement, and he confirms it, but won't say anything more. E. Pay, I say, "Did you lie to me last night in some of your statements?" Yes. I'm worried he'll hang up, and I need clear answers.

So I jump into a set of yes or no questions.

“Did Shoheotani transfer funds to the bookmaking operation?”

No. Did Shoheotani know the funds were being transferred? No. Did you tell Shoheotani about the gambling debts and wiring the money? No.

Did you offer to pay him back? Yes. When, as soon as I can, I asked today or in the past, E. Pay says,

I've been told by Shoheotani that he only learned just now that E. Pay took his money,

but E. Pay saying he had offered to pay it back in the past. So I start to ask him, "When did Shoheotani learn as money was missing?" But E. Pay interrupts me. They told me I can't answer anything. Who is they? He doesn't answer.

Is it Otani's people? He doesn't answer. I ask him if he's being paid or getting any kind of deal to say this, he says no. He's doing it up his own free will. Are you employed with the Dodgers?

He tells me he's not sure. Then I ask, "Did you lie to Shoheotani?"

Okay. E. Pay says, "Yes."

“Throughout the call, I can hear a voice talking. I think to him.”

I can't tell if it's a man or a woman. I don't know if it was his wife, Shoheotani's agent or someone else. When I ask, "Are you being accused of stealing or embezzling from Shoheotani?" E. Pay interrupts. I was also told I can't comment on that part.

I ask, "Have you told your family?" He says, "I don't want to talk about my family." We hang up. I call my editors. As we drop these new quotes into the story, I text E. Pay with one final question.

"Did you take the money from Shoheotani's accounts without his knowledge?" E. Pay never responds. The Dodgers have fired the interpreter for Shoheotani. He's Shoheotani allegedly placed wagers with an illegal sports book in California, accused of racking up millions of dollars in illegal gambling debts.

“He claimed Zotani had no knowledge of his gambling debts or transfers.”

"It's certainly not the good look now." "It'll be a toning of life." The scandal now rocking this fort. "So how in the world does someone just transfer four and a half million dollars if his money?" And he has no idea of it.

Why did the story change so drastically? My sources first told me Shoheotani's bank account was sending money to a bookie. But then E. Pay said he was the one gambling. Shoheotani was just helping him pay his debts. And now it's changed again.

It was all E. Pay. E. Pay placed the bets and somehow access Shoheotani's bank account to pay off the bookie. And Shoheotani knew nothing about it. Who really is E. Pay?

E. Pay says he and Shoheotani were closer than brothers, always together.

“And so in this moment, people were asking,”

"Is it really possible that Shoheotani didn't know what was going on?" "You know where your money is at?" "I know where my money is at?" "That's all I can say." Either Shoheotani was betrayed by his best friend or he threw his best friend under the bus.

This season on the betrayal of Shoheotani. Everyone was every little bit of Shoheotani. And E. Pay was a part of him, part of the Shoheotani deal with E. E. Pay. I was shocked to see this person bet over 19,000 sports events.

I mean, even if I wanted to, I couldn't do that many bets. I was pissed. It was definitely a manipulation from the get-go. It painted a really shocking picture of one person abusing the trust of another person. "Tani on the run, all on down, and Otoni has another stolen base."

The betrayal of Shoheotani is based on reporting by me, Tisha Thompson, with support from Tim Kulin, and the ESPN investigative unit. Our producer is Carrie and Thomas. Our senior producer is Max Green. Our senior editorial producer is Pricky Barathon.

Our associate producer is Gus Navarro. Story editing by Audrey Quinn, Elaine Tang, Eric Neil, and Mike Drago. Additional editing by Rebecca Hudson. Our archival producer is Jennifer Welock. Our line producer is Katherine Sanky. Production managers are Jason Schwartz and Shina Williams.

Fact checking by John Mesterbeardino with David Sabino. Additional editorial review from Masa Nihuah. Original music by Allison Layton Brown and John Delore. Sound design by John Delore. Chris Buckel is vice president of ESPN investigative enterprise and digital journalism.

Marsha Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather Anderson, and Burke Magnus are executive producers for 30-30. David Roberts, Mike Foss, and Roxanna Scott are executive producers for ESPN.