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Shohei Ohtani had no idea his translator was gambling millions of dollars, and the feds have concluded not only was the Dodger star NOT involved in the scheme, he was a victim of fraud ... law enforcement sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ Sports.

The feds have been investigating Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's longtime translator, close friend, and functionally his manager. Mizuhara gambled away millions, reportedly at least $4.5 million, and after the story broke he said Ohtani had covered the debt.

Our sources say the feds, who launched an investigation last month, have concluded Mizuhara was lying -- that Ohtani was completely in the dark over the gambling debt, and Mizuhara embezzled from one of Ohtani's accounts without the pitcher's knowledge.

Families looking to buy huge packs of toilet paper and dirt cheap hot dogs at Costco can now make out like old-timey prospectors, 'cause the retailer's got gold to spare, which is flying off their digital shelves ... to the tune of potentially hundreds of millions.

The store known for selling everything in bulk is in the precious metals game these days ... selling 1-oz, 24-karat gold bars in their stores for around $2,400 a pop. This has been going on for about 6 months or so now, and at this point ... it's apparently a money-maker.

Analysts at Wells Fargo reportedly told its clients earlier this week that Costco might be bringing in between $100 million and $200 million on gold sales each month. Wowza!

Two of the parents of special needs kids who were allegedly brutalized by an aide at their school are speaking out ... and they say this whole thing could've been prevented.

We talked to Jessica Vestal and Brittany Yarborough on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, and they explained how they discovered that 28-year-old Kiarra Jones was allegedly hurting their sons ... something they say they figured out through surveillance video on the bus they rode.

As you know ... the footage that surfaced depicts Jones apparently hurting Jessica's son -- who's autistic and nonverbal -- and Brittany says her own son, who's also nonverbal, was also sustaining mysterious injuries that were inexplicable ... including a broken toe.

6:07 PM PT -- A rep for Jeff Beacher tells TMZ ... he was not driving during the accident, he had been dropped off at the gym and was checking to see if everyone was safe. His assistant was driving his car.

The most L.A. car crash you could imagine went down in La La Land this week -- with three electric vehicles touching tips on the road ... and yes, they're all Elon's creations.

Check out these pics taken from a crash scene in Bev Hills Wednesday -- where a 3-way Tesla pile-up occurred at the intersection of Rexford Drive and Beverly Drive, and it looks like there were a few different models in the mix, not to mention varying degrees of damage.

El Chapo's life in lock-up is apparently getting lonely -- 'cause now he's asking a judge to let his wife visit him in prison ... and for his young daughters to be able to give him a ring.

The notorious Mexican cartel kingpin is begging a NYC court to authorize a family visit at the supermax United States Penitentiary Florence in Colorado -- where he's spending the rest of his life behind bars.

That's not all ... the ex-drug lord is also asking the court to continue allowing him 2 15-minute calls a month with his girls -- whom he got cut off from last May, which he suggests is the doing of the feds because he's trying to have his case tossed, and he believes they're retaliating.

JoJo Siwa is walking back her claim about wanting to create a new genre of music, called "gay pop" ... saying she didn't mean to snub the LGBTQ+ legends who came before her.

We caught up with the 20-year-old singer outside Studio Siwa in the L.A. area Wednesday ... where she told us she was simply misunderstood when she said in a Billboard interview she planned to invent gay pop with the release of her song "Karma."

She said her mission was to simply raise awareness regarding the genre of music, since many people are still unfamiliar with it. However, she did acknowledge she underestimated the public's familiarity with queer icons ... like Elton John, Freddie Mercury and Madonna, etc.

DJ Mister Cee -- a prominent fixture in hip hop's radio culture -- has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Hot 97, the station where Mister Cee built his foundation, sent out a heartfelt statement to signify his life and career ... "As a family at HOT 97 and WBLS, we’re deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved Mister Cee. He wasn’t just a DJ; he was a pillar of our stations, bringing joy to countless listeners with his legendary 'Throwback at Noon and Friday Night Live' sets."

The station adds ... "Mr. Cee’s influence stretched far beyond the airwaves, shaping the very fabric of NYC’s DJ culture. Our hearts are heavy as we send our love and condolences to his family and the fans whose lives he touched through his music. Rest easy, Mr. Cee. Your legacy will live forever."

Gabriel Iglesias needed roadside assistance near Radiator Springs ... 'cause Fluffy got stuck on Disney's "Cars" ride -- and had to sweat it out in the hot SoCal sun.

The stand-up comedian tells TMZ ... he hit up California Adventure Tuesday in Anaheim, CA with his family, and the group decided to go for a quick spin on Radiator Spring Racers -- a high-speed roller coaster based on the Pixar movie "Cars."

Welp, it didn't move quite so quickly this time around ... 'cause Gabriel tells us his car got stuck during the fast-moving final stretch of the ride -- and he's got the receipts to prove it.

Todd Chrisley is gonna have a hard time paying the 3 quarters-of-a-million dollar judgment against him while behind bars -- so says his attorney, who tells us TC's got bigger fish to fry.

The reality star's attorney, Jay Surgent, tells TMZ ... he spoke with Todd Tuesday, and it's been made clear Todd doesn't have an income right now while he's doing time in prison -- so it'll be an uphill battle figuring out a way to pay off the $755k he just got hit with.

Surgent says Todd's been deprived of his ability to work while in lock-up -- and not just that ... but there's an even bigger tab he owes somebody right now to the tune of millions.

Van Cleef & Arpels is about to see if "take backs" are allowed in court ... 'cause the luxury brand wants $150k back from a mystery person it accidentally blessed with that dough!

According to legal documents obtained by TMZ ... the jewelry company -- with a famous Rodeo Drive storefront -- is suing unknown defendants for the money it says it mistakenly sent.

As one famous Rodeo Drive shopper once put it, "Big mistake! Big. Huge."

Rashee Rice is now officially a wanted man in Texas ... cops just announced they've issued an arrest warrant for the Chiefs star after he was involved in that massive car crash in Dallas last month.

Officials from the Dallas Police Dept. said in a statement Wednesday Rice is facing one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury, and six counts of collision involving injury ... this after he admitted to driving one of the cars -- a matte black Lamborghini -- that caused a huge pileup on a highway on March 30.

Theodore Knox -- the man accused of driving the other car, a Corvette -- was also issued an arrest warrant ... and faces the same charges as Rice.

Bobb'e J. Thompson claims Tracy Morgan mistreated him on the set of their old sitcom back in the 2000s -- alleging the dude was a straight-up bully ... all 'cause the kid was funny.

The former child actor -- who costarred alongside Tracy in "The Tracy Morgan Show" between 2003 and 2004 -- hopped on the Comedy Hype podcast to make his claims ... and he details a pretty disturbing story about how he says Morgan dealt with him back in those days.

Based on the way Bobb'e describes the alleged tale, it's a little hard to decipher if this was just a one-off, or if happened repeatedly -- but he claims Tracy had severely berated him.

Michael Jackson's biopic promises to be a pretty long film -- that's what the film's key producer is saying anyway, and it's gonna be chock-full of all his greatest hits.

Graham King made a surprise appearance at Lionsgate's CinemaCon panel Wednesday, where he talked about the forthcoming "Michael" movie that chronicles the late singer's life ... and they even played a first-look trailer at the event.

The footage for that has yet to surface publicly, but word is ... it looks pretty dang good.

There are apparently critics of Bronny James' game in NBA front offices too ... 'cause one general manager declared this week LeBron's kid is "nowhere near ready" to play in the Association right now.

The GM made the comments to The Ringer's Dan Conner ... while speaking under the condition of anonymity.

It didn't seem the exec absolutely loathed the 19-year-old's skillset -- in fact, he appeared to praise the teen's defensive ability -- but he seemed to make it clear that LBJ Jr. needs more seasoning before he can thrive in the pros like Dad.

Margot Robbie is the go-to gal for toy-inspired movies after "Barbie" ... this time passing go and collecting laughs with the movie adaptation of the classic board game, "Monopoly."

The actress and her production company, LuckyChap, are teaming up with toy giant Hasbro Entertainment and Lionsgate to take a trip around the board and bring it to life for the big screen ... news that just came out Wednesday at CinemaCon.

The "Monopoly" movie concept has been brewing for a while now, with actor Kevin Hart and director Tim Story reportedly attached to the project back in 2019.

Donald Trump's trying to woo voters in Atlanta with poultry and ice cream -- and he went to one of the most famous chicken joints to do it ... ordering a crap ton of grub for everyone.

The ex-Prez went to a Chick-fil-A in the ATL Wednesday, where his campaign rages on ... and where he popped into the restaurant to chop it up with some of the workers behind the counter ... cracking jokes with them and schmoozing as photogs and press stood around.

In terms of food, DT bought enough milkshakes and chickens to feed upwards of a couple dozen people -- and he made sure to let 'em know he was covering the tab.