Mathew Bowyer Banned from Nevada Casinos: Key Figure in Ohtani Scandal

The Nevada Gaming Commission has officially placed illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer in the state’s “Black Book” of gamblers, banning him from all casinos in Nevada. The commission voted unanimously on Thursday to add his name to the List of Excluded Persons.

Bowyer was a central figure in the Shohei Ohtani sports betting scandal. The baseball star’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, stole millions of dollars from Ohtani and used the money to place sports bets with Bowyer from November 2021 to March 2024. Mizuhara eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to almost five years in prison.

Beyond his involvement in the Ohtani scandal, Bowyer also ran “unsuitable” activities in Las Vegas casinos, making “cash front” deposits involving millions of dollars. This led to major fines for several properties over money laundering. 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.