Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his agent are being hit with a $240 million lawsuit, with the MLB postseason around the corner.
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani dealing with poorly-timed $240 million off-field issue originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to fend off the San Diego Padres for the lead in the National League West. All hands have to be on deck. But the franchise’s cornerstone player, Shohei Ohtani, is once again being linked to shady off-field issues involving people around him.
The Associated Press’s Jimmy Golen provided the details of another perceived scam from an Ohtani representative.
This time, involving an active lawsuit, which alleges Ohtani and his agent “exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiffs’ role in the project — for no reason other than their own financial self-interest.”
“A Hawaii real estate investor and broker are suing Shohei Ohtani, claiming the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his agent got them fired from a $240 million luxury housing development on the Big Island’s coveted Hapuna Coast that they brought him in to endorse,” Golen wrote.
“According to the lawsuit filed in Hawaii Circuit Court on Friday, Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, increasingly demanded concessions from developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto before demanding that their business partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, drop them from the deal.”
This isn’t Ohtani’s first run-in with the law. Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for stealing $17 million from Ohtani's personal bank accounts to cover gambling debts.
As Dave Roberts ponders whether to shut Ohtani down and focus on deploying him exclusively at the plate, the star two-way player is embroiled in another off-field controversy.
And it couldn’t have been timed worse as the Dodgers enter the stretch run of their title defense season.
Category: Baseball
