Several major sports betting scandals occurred across professional sports in the 2024 calendar year. That includes Shohei Ohtani and his former assistant and personal translator, Ippe Mizuhara. The 2024 season was Ohtani’s first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In March, news broke that his translator Ippe Mizuhara stole nearly $17 million from him. Mizuahara found himself with millions in sports betting debt. He thought he could take advantage of Ohtani and take money from him.
This past June, Muzzuhara pleaded guilty to bank and wire fraud charges. Shohei Ohtani was exonerated from any involvement or wrongdoing. Ohtani and the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series. Another person with ties to Ippe Mizuhara’s case was his bookie, Matthew Bowyer. He is the person who accepted millions in wagers from Mizuhara and other clients.
Bowyer had a group of co-conspirators who funneled those winnings through Las Vegas casinos. When Bowyer was finally caught, he was in deep trouble with casino executives and federal agents. In August, Bowyer pleaded guilty to charges of operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering, and subscribing to a false tax return.
The Jontay Porter betting scandal in the NBA
During the 2023-24 season, Jontay Porter was a member of the Toronto Raptors. He was a two-way player for the team. This meant he would play with the Raptors and with their G League affiliate. Ahead of a game on January 26, Porter was messaging with three co-conspirators and was giving them inside information. He told them he was going to check out of a game early on 1/26.
With that information, the co-conspirators bet on all of Porter’s props for the game on January 26. Porter reportedly did this because he was trying to pay off gambling debts. Additionally, Porter was on his team and all his actions were highly against the league’s policy. With that, Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA. His co-conspirators ended up with federal chargers. After Porter’s case, the league quickly changed their policy on being able to place wagers on two-way players.
Other sports scandals happened in 2024
Former San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano received a lifetime ban from the MLB. Four other players received suspension and umpire Pat Hoberg was disciplined for violating the league’s gambling policy. Brad Bohanon was the former baseball coach for Alabama and he received a 15-year show-cause penalty in February. That was for his involvement in sharing information with a bettor named Bert Neff Jr.
