Matthew Bowyer, a VIP sports bettor described as one of the nation's largest bookmakers, has pled guilty to three charges in a sweeping illegal sports wagering case that has rocked the professional sports world over the last several months.
Bowyer, pictured at center in the above photo, is the bookmaker tied to Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of MLB star Shohei Ohtani. According to court filings, Bowyer admitted Wednesday to operating an illegal gambling business, transactional money laundering, and filing a false tax return. In June, Mizuhara pled guilty in Southern California to one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return in connection with the multi-million dollar scheme.
Over a 27-month period through Jan. 2024, more than $16 million was transferred via wire from a checking account that belonged to an individual described in a federal complaint as “Victim A.” Based on the fact pattern within the complaint, Victim A is presumed to be Ohtani.
Those funds were transferred to bank accounts of associates of an operator of an illegal sportsbook, an individual deemed “Bookmaker 1” in the April 2024 complaint. The individual referenced as Bookmaker 1 is presumed to be Bowyer. In totality, Bowyer runs one of the nation’s largest betting-bookmaking operations, a source told .