Martin Estrada Discusses Shohei Ohtani–Ippei Mizuhara Case on ESPN Podcast 

Munger, Tolles & Olson Co-Managing Partner Martin Estrada recently appeared in multiple episodes of ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts series, titled “Inside the Investigation of Shohei and Ippei.” The audio documentary is reported by ESPN investigative journalist Tisha Thompson. 

During the series, Martin discusses the federal investigation and prosecution of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who stole more than $16 million from the baseball superstar. As U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Martin led the office that prosecuted the case, which uncovered an extensive fraud scheme involving bank impersonation, altered account security settings and unauthorized wire transfers. 

In the podcast, Martin shares his perspective on the scope of the misconduct and the motivations behind it. He explains that fraud and exploitation by trusted individuals are not uncommon, pointing to the many such cases his office handled during his tenure as U.S. Attorney. “My office was doing dozens of these cases on a monthly basis involving older adults. Involving different victims, people who have much smaller amounts taken from them,” Martin notes. However, these other cases “just didn’t get a lot of attention.”  

Listen to the podcast.