nothing, Nothing

So how did Friedman know to tell the team that Ohtani paid the debt? I find it super hard to believe that Friedman just talked to Ippei and ran with it.

Exactly.  Why in the world would Ippei have even had access to those accounts? 
As expected, this statement is just making things worse.

Honestly hard to believe Ohtani didn't know that $4.5M had come out of his accounts.

Ohtani and his mother anytime they logged in to check Ohtani bank balance and or activity. 

Ohtani and his mother anytime they logged in to check Ohtani bank balance and or activity. 

Pointless. Total waste of time. Why bother reading it if you're not going to take any questions? Just release it now.  It's not going to make questions go away. 

No matter how many times you guys post and drool over his stuff, the Angels aren't going to sign him.

i really like how a lot of the big name media personalities are just running with ippei second story of ''it was all me guys i swear'' and not even mentioning he had two completely different stories only days apart. credit to espn for giving the full story.
also can only imagine most of japanese media and mlb and the doggie doo doo's will all be pushing that ippei's master theft tricks haven't been seen since the like of danny ocean and brad pitt  

To me, this just has the smell of a big coverup. Lawyers all over this before the news broke. Multiple stories. If Ohtani did indeed wire money, i have to think he has some culpability unless Ippei held a gun to his head. Something tells me MLB and Manfort will try to protect their biggest "Commodity'. Stock up on popcorn everyone, this should get interesting.

Well, they didnt even know he was getting married so what his teammates knew or didnt know really doesnt mean much. 

I think the story that Shohei was paying off Ippei’s gambling debts is plausible, if not really believable. That’s a lot of money for one person to rack up in debts when, comparatively, he wasn’t making money in the millions. I find the idea that Ippei stole the money even less believable, especially since that was a quick pivot from the legal department. I think the most plausible scenario is Shohei was betting on sports, and Ippei was his go-between. It’s becoming way more acceptable to bet now, and many pro athletes have been caught up in gambling scandals over the years.

i really like how a lot of the big name media personalities are just running with ippei second story of ''it was all me guys i swear'' and not even mentioning he had two completely different stories only days apart. credit to espn for giving the full story.
also can only imagine most of japanese media and mlb and the doggie doo doo's will all be pushing that ippei's master theft tricks haven't been seen since the like of danny ocean and brad pitt  

Okay, the story Ohtani's lawyers are proposing is pure fiction. Here is where the timeline burns them. First it was reported Ohtani was paying off Ippei's gambling debt.
 But that is considered a gift and as such it would have to be reported to the IRS by both Ohtani and Ippei and would create a tax burden. If either hadn't reported gambling winnings or debts along with the gift then they are in violation of tax laws.
If either reports gambling winnings or losses, MLB gets involved which would threaten Ohtani's contract and MLB career. 
The money came from Ohtani's account which is supervised by his accountant. There is no way these withdrawals could have occurred without Ohtani's accountant being aware and notifing his client. 
So Ohtani's lawyer fabricated a story of bank theft, which is nearly impossible. The only real plausible situation is Ohtani was betting and using Ippei to make the transactions thinking it wouldn't be traced back. And I am sure the FBI knows this along with the IRS. 
Ippei should have gotten a better lawyer before falling on a sword. Supplying a story that will be proved a lie by the FBI and IRS is going to cost him prison time either way. Bank fraud or lying to cover Ohtani's gambling still lands him in jail. Unless he takes a plea bargin.

So, if Arte knew he wasn't going to re-sign Ohtani, then WTF did he not allow Perry to trade him?
 
Fucking Arte...

I think the story here is as follows:
 
Ohtani's name was leaked to reporters from the FBI investigation into the bookie. Reporters reach out to Ohtani through his spokesperson for comment. Ippei gives the interview yesterday to ESPN. The Dodgers get wind of this, realize Ohtani is implicated from Ippei's interview and is attempting to change the story from "Ohtani paid off illegal bookie for Ippei" to "Ippei stole the money from Ohtani to pay his gambling debt." Ippei must have some incentive to go along with it.  
I guess it's equally likely that Ohtani participated in some of it himself. But who knows.

Trevor Bauer and Shohei Ohtani are going to be teammates, in Japan. 

Not that anyone cares, (or that it matters) but over at r/baseball on reddit they're going full in on the idea it was 100% Ippei who did it. I know they're mostly doyer fan boys, but hilarious nonetheless. Critical thinking isn't their strongsuit. 

I mean there's no fucking way Ohtani didn't know about this. Like, come on. 
Manfred gonna try so hard to sweep this under the rug.

Wow, this is batshit crazy once you read all the details.  Ippei completely changed his story.  Lol.

lol this has fall guy written all over it 
how does an interpreter have access to millions of his dollars 
I hope Ohtani gets busted, doubt it though 

Ippei is basically like Stevie from Eastbound and down.  Theres no way he’s not taking the fall for Shohei.