Podcast Host Mariana Van Zeller Slams Illegal Sports Gambling

The bookie who placed multiple illegal bets for Shohei Ohtani’s translator was discovered during a federal probe into a Las Vegas casino.

That casino, Resorts World Las Vegas, agreed to a $10.5 million fine from the Nevada Gaming Commission for illegal gaming activities on Mar. 27 of this year, according to ESPN.

Separate investigations by the FBI and Major League Baseball cleared Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers star who is now playing in the World Series, but not his Japanese translator.

The interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly took $17 million from the athlete’s account to cover previous bad gambling debts.

The bookie who placed his bets, Matt Bowyer, was a guest earlier this week on The Hidden Third, a new weekly podcast that focuses on the one-third of the global population involved in the black markets of drugs, guns, gambling, and other illicit activities.

Translator sentenced

“Matt was pretty open that Ohtani’s interpreter was betting with him,” said podcast host Mariana van Zeller, “but he does not believe Ohtani was the person doing the betting. He did say, though, that even Jeff Bezos would have noticed if such a huge sum disappeared from one of his accounts.”

In February 2025, Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months (4 years and 9 months) in federal prison for illegally transferring some $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off gambling debts. Dismissed by the Dodgers upon discovery, Mizuhara was ordered to pay that sum in restitution to the World Series star. He is also expected to be deported to Japan after getting out of jail four years from now.

Bowyer is also incarcerated – sent to federal lockup shortly after talking to van Zeller on the air.

“Matt explained to me what it felt like to bet $4 million on a football game that he lost,” she said. “At half-time, he was losing so he decided to double down plus add another $400,000. His team turned the game around. He told me that every time he won, it was like no other experience. Better than sex, better than having a child. The amount of money we’re talking about is just crazy.”

A 49-year-old Portuguese national who came to the U.S. at age 25, van Zeller attended Columbia journalism school, covered 9/11, and then moved to the Middle East to study Arabic. That sparked her awareness of black markets – and her future career.

Supreme Court ruling

Since a 2018 Supreme Court decision lifted a prohibition on legal sports gambling all but 11 states went along. As a result, sports gambling flourished, topping $250 billion within seven years while illegal gambling reached $64 billion, she claimed.

According to van Zeller, “Three million Americans struggle with compulsive gambling. Turn on the TV, the computer, the phone – all these platforms are very dangerous, causing more addiction and more violence. People will spend almost any amount of money. And there’s very little federal funding to fight gambling addiction.”

Bowyer began as a teenager, he told van Zeller.

She described him as a talented guy who sold subscriptions to The Orange County Register as a teenager. “He had such a good spiel that he could convince anyone to subscribe,” she said. “He was really good with numbers. He started organizing and hosting games. He was a talented guy who went the other way. He wanted to focus on something he loved, both as a gambling addict and as an illegal bookie.”

Bowyer, whose thriving bookie business lasted five years, pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and filing a false tax return. In addition to his year-long jail term, he was ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution. He’s also owed $40 million from people who used to bet with him.

“He was a gambler himself,” van Zeller said of Bowyer. “He spent money at Resorts World and the casino accepted bets on gambling from illegal sources. Every two weeks, he would take $2 million in cash and fly to Las Vegas on a private jet. During the investigation of the casino, the feds came across his name as someone who was getting money from illegal means with his bookie operation.”

Award nominee

Van Zeller, who lives in Los Angeles, is best-known for her five years on National Geographic’s Trafficked, the most Emmy-nominated unscripted series in the history of the award. The show explores underground economies that drive some 35 per cent of global trade, according to van Zeller, and include illegal betting markets that often intersect with pro sports.

“So much of my time is trying to get people to talk to us,” said van Zeller, who has been exposing black markets for more than 20 years. “I fly halfway around the world and then people don’t want to speak on-camera.

“I did an interview with an assassin in downtown L.A. that didn’t go very well. And I got caught up in a military coup. As Mike Tyson once said, fighting is great until you get punched in the face.”

Admittedly not a baseball fan, van Zeller is outspoken in her opposition to gambling in sports.

“Just a few years after it was legalized, we’re seeing what’s happening now in the NBA,” she said, referring to the pro basketball gambling scandal that broke earlier this week.

NBA scandal

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier plus former NBA player Damon Jones were indicted for involvement in illegal high-stakes poker games linked to organized crime and using insider information about injuries to make fraudulent bets.

Just last year, the league banned Jontay Porter was for life after gambling infractions.

Baseball has had its share too – from the Black Sox Scandal that involved White Sox players fixing the 1919 World Series to Pete Rose placing bets on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds.

Just a few months ago, Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were placed on administrative leave while Major League Baseball investigated gambling charges against them.

“Gambling is a hidden addiction,” van Zeller said. “It’s really easy to hide. If you’re addicted to alcohol or tobacco, it’s not so easy. With gambling, you get the high whether you win or lose. I don’t think there’s a way you can protect people.”

MLB’s new attitude

She noted that MLB was once so opposed to gambling that it banned Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle from accepting jobs as greeters in Atlantic City casinos. Now ads for gaming sites are prevalent and constant betting odds scroll across the bottom of the screen on MLB Network.

Ads and articles also occupy newspaper sports pages. Five full sports pages in The New York Post sports section on Oct. 31 were devoted to gambling.

“A lot of people wouldn’t be watching sports today if gambling weren’t involved,” van Zeller admitted. “It makes it more exciting for them.

“We did a story awhile back when weed was legalized. Now the same thing is happening with sports gambling.

“It’s happening faster than anyone thought and it’s going to keep going that way. It’s terrible for people who love sports and bad for the trust we have in sports and athletes. Players can be threatened by gamblers – especially college players who don’t make so much money.

“Apart from the fact that you can make a lot of money from this, I don’t see any other benefits.”