Ryan Boyajian, the boyfriend of one of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” appeared Wednesday in a federal investigation into the bookie who received millions of dollars for gambling debts from Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani,
Mizuhara agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani, according to federal prosecutors. The money was used to pay Mizuhara’s gambling debts to Orange County bookie Mathew Bowyer.
In a story on ESPN.com on Wednesday, Boyajian, who first appeared on “The Real Housewives of Orange County” in 2023, was revealed to have been the contact to whom Mizuhara wired funds to cover his losses on bets placed with Bowyer.
Boyajian and Bowyer, friends for years, shared a bank account for joint real estate projects, ESPN.com reported. Steven Katzman, Boyajian’s criminal attorney, told ESPN that the reality TV star is cooperating with federal authorities in the investigation.
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“Because there is an active investigation and Ryan is working with the authorities, he can’t confirm or deny what is going on,” Katzman told a reporter for the sports news website. “He is not a bookmaker or a sub-bookie.”
Boyajian joined “The Real Housewives of Orange County” in its 17th season when his girlfriend Jennifer Pedranti was cast as a new housewife on the long-running Bravo reality TV series.
While boyfriends and husbands typically play supporting roles on the “Real Housewives” Boyajian received more airtime than many thanks to the feelings other housewives had for him.
Housewife Tamra Judge, who returned to the series in 2023 after several years away, repeatedly told Pedranti that Boyajian’s track record with other women he dated made him an unworthy romantic partner. Pedranti regularly ended up in tears as Judge and other housewives encouraged her to leave him.
Filming for the 18th season of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” recently concluded, according to a post by Pedranti on her Instagram account.
And Boyajian seems certain to appear on the show, for which a season premiere date has not yet been announced. In April, they told People magazine they had just gotten engaged while on vacation in the Bahamas.