I suspect the truth is closer to the interpreter's account than the Dodgers' account. Admittedly, I don't know what happened, but it was not until lawyers were consulted that this went from "friend helping a friend out of trouble" to embezzlement/theft. If the interpreter was embezzling millions of dollars from his friend/meal ticket, I doubt he would agree to sit down for a two hour interview with the press where he effectively admitted he took Ohtani's money and used it as his own, unless he knew Ohtani had knowledge and consented to it.
The skeptic in me thinks perhaps Ohtani and his buddy were collectively gambling on non-baseball (thinking it was OK or at least "don't ask, don't tell") with the interpreter handling the transactions, and then when it got discovered, created a cover story which would theoretically wall off Ohtani from culpability. When the lawyers got involved and saw that the contrived story was not enough to wall off Ohtani, they created the new story, with the interpreter taking the fall.
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