Shohei Ohtani has been sued! He is embroiled in a Hawaii mansion case, accused of abusing his power to oust a team that has been with him for 11 years.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani has recently found himself involved in a lawsuit concerning a Hawaii mansion development project valued at $240 million (approximately 1.75 billion RMB). The experienced developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and agent Tomoko Matsumoto allege that Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo used their celebrity status and business influence to push them out of the originally led "Hapuna Coast Mansion Project."

According to reports from foreign media, the plaintiffs stated in their complaint that they invested over 11 years of effort in the early planning stages of the project and actively invited Shohei Ohtani to serve as a spokesperson in 2023, leveraging his immense popularity in both Japan and the U.S. to attract high-end buyers from Japan and internationally. Ohtani even agreed to purchase one of the 14 luxury homes in the project and planned to build a small training facility for hitting and pitching in the area to live and train during the off-season. Project promotional materials referred to him as "Japan's Babe Ruth" and "the first resident," positioning his image alongside Hawaii's top resort brands as a core selling point to attract buyers.

However, the plaintiffs accuse that once Ohtani and Balelo entered the project, they made a series of additional demands and pressured the developer's partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, to remove Hayes and Matsumoto's management rights. The complaint states that these actions "undermined and ultimately dismantled the plaintiffs' role in the project" and were driven by "purely economic interests."

The plaintiffs harshly criticized this as a blatant case of "abuse of power," claiming that through threats and unfounded legal assertions, they were forced to violate the contract, resulting in the loss of their hard-earned results.

The lawsuit points out that Hayes and Matsumoto, having been excluded, not only lost millions of dollars in expected profits, project management fees, and real estate commissions but also suffered damage to their commercial interests in another nearby development project. The two described their experience as "a meticulously planned business ambush."

As of now, Ohtani and Balelo have not directly responded to the case. A spokesperson for CAA Baseball, which represents Balelo, declined to comment. This lawsuit comes less than a year after Ohtani was embroiled in a scandal involving his former translator, Ippei Mizuhara, who was accused of misappropriating Ohtani's funds to pay off illegal gambling debts, leading to Mizuhara's dismissal from the Dodgers.

Now 31 years old, Shohei Ohtani joined MLB from Japan in 2018 and has become one of the hottest international stars in baseball due to his rare ability to pitch and hit. He has been selected to the All-Star Game five times, won the MVP award three times, and last year signed a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers, helping the team secure the championship in the 2024 World Series.