Major League Baseball's department of investigations has launched a probe into allegations involving Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and his longtime friend and interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

In a brief statement Friday evening, MLB shifted course over its public pronouncements the past 48 hours that it was still gathering information into the matter, which has roiled the baseball industry since it became public Wednesday.

Mizuhara, 39, told ESPN that Ohtani, baseball's highest-paid player, had covered the interpreter's significant sports gambling debts by transferring money to associates of an alleged Orange County bookmaker; the outlet reported at least $4.5 million in wire transfers were moved from an Ohtani account.

Shortly after those comments became public, attorneys representing Ohtani claimed the two-time MVP was the victim of a "massive theft," without naming Mizuhara by name, and would be contacting unspecified authorities.

"Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media," the league said in a statement. "Earlier today, our Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process investigating the matter."

Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers shortly after the allegations emerged; the club had hired him after Mizuhara served as Ohtani's interpreter for six previous seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, along with stints when Ohtani played in Japan.

Mizuhara has insisted that Ohtani did not place any of the bets. MLB players and employees are allowed to bet legally on sports with the exception of baseball. Mizuhara essentially admitted he was in violation of Rule 21, which forbids placing bets with an illegal bookmaker.

Any punishment under Rule 21 falls under the discretion of the commissioner.

MLB announced its investigation shortly after ESPN published an extensive timeline of conversations this week with Mizuhara and a crisis-management public relations staffer hastily hired by Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo. The spokesman confirmed Monday that Ohtani covered debts incurred by Mizuhara's gambling, and that Ohtani said he'd "sent several large payments."

Tuesday, Mizuhara told ESPN in an interview that by 2022, he'd lost more than $1 million. "I couldn't share this with Shohei. It was hard for me to make my ends meet. I was going paycheck to paycheck. Because I kind of had to keep up with his lifestyle. But at the same time, I didn't want to tell him this."

As the debt soared to $4 million in 2023, Mizuhara said he approached Ohtani about helping repay the debt, and that while Ohtani "wasn't happy about it, but he said he would help me.

"It was hard to see him," Mizuhara says, "He's a great guy and pretty much he went on with his life like nothing ever happened."

Mizuhara said the two oversaw several payments of $500,000, the maximum Ohtani could transfer, with the last payment sent in October 2023.

Gambling in California is not legalized. Mathew Bowyer, the alleged bookmaker involved in the allegations, is under federal investigation as part of a wide-ranging probe into illegal gambling. The ESPN report says Bowyer - then a casual acquaintance of former Angels infielder David Fletcher - and Mizuhara met at a poker game at the Angels' team hotel in 2021.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB begins investigation into Shohei Ohtani, interpreter allegations