The bookie for Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter may soon be added to Nevada’s “black book” of gamblers. The “black book” is a list of people banned from the Silver State’s casinos.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board voted 3-0 on Wednesday to nominate Matthew Bowyer to the state’s “List of Excluded Persons.” Bowyer was the bookmaker for the MLB star’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Bowyer pleaded guilty to felony charges for bank fraud and filing a false tax return last May. He began serving his prison sentence last fall.
Mizuhara stole millions of dollars from Ohtani that he used to place sports bets with Bowyer from November 2021 to March 2024.
There’s no indication when the full NGCB will make a final determination on the bookmaker.
Money Laundering
The move by the NGCB is part of the board’s continued effort to crack down on illegal gambling and money laundering.
Beyond the Ohtani scandal, Bowyer also ran “unsuitable” activities in Las Vegas casinos, making “cash front” deposits involving millions of dollars, according to the board.
That led to major fines for several properties over money laundering complaints. Caesars was fined $7.8 million in November and Resorts World paid $10.5 million to the regulatory body, the second-largest gaming fine in the state’s history
Bowyer pleaded guilty to several gambling-related crimes in 2024, including money laundering and filing a false tax return. He received a year and one day in prison and $1.6 million in restitution to the IRS.
Bowyer is currently in prison in Lompoc, California, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He is set to be released Aug. 16.
No One Has Ever Successfully Appealed Inclusion On The List
Adding his name to the List of Excluded Persons, which includes 37 people, would bar him from ever entering in a Nevada casino.
Bowyer is allowed to refute the claims against him and have an attorney represent him in the process. NGCB Chairman Mike Dreitzer said Bowyer needs to be on the excluded persons list.
“Normally, I wouldn’t give much airtime to this particular individual in this particular setting,” Dreitzer said. “However, I think it’s important to note that today the board takes an action that goes to the very core and the heart of Nevada’s gaming regulatory mission: the protection of integrity of gaming, the confidence of the public, and the reputation of the state as a gold standard for gaming regulation.”
The NGCB has never rejected a nomination for the exclusion list, and no one has ever successfully appealed inclusion. The list was created in 1960 with 11 nominees, mostly mobsters involved with the casino industry at the time.
Another Bookie Awaits Board Decision
The NGCB nominated another bookie, Wayne Nix, in late 2025. He was also involved in money laundering at Las Vegas casinos.
Nix ran a multi-million-dollar illegal sportsbook in California and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to federal law enforcement officials about his role in the operation in 2023.
Starz announced in December that the streaming service will be producing a series based on the Ohtani betting saga.
