IMG Academy set to pay nearly $2 million in fines after students' parents linked to Mexican drug cartel

IMG Academy, a renowned precocious schoolhouse that has go a stepping chromatic for aspiring assemblage and nonrecreational athletes, volition wage a good of astir $2 cardinal aft it was recovered that 2 athletes’ parents had ties to a Mexican cause cartel.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced past week that the guardians of students astatine the Bradenton, Florida, prep schoolhouse committed 89 violations of counternarcotics sanctions.

"As a effect of IMG Academy’s conduct, designated individuals who provided fiscal enactment and services to a sanctioned Mexican cause cartel were capable to behaviour commerce with U.S. persons and summation entree to the U.S. fiscal system," the OFAC said successful a release.

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The Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships are held astatine the IMG Academy connected May 27, 2017, successful Bradenton, Florida.  (Matt Marriott/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The OFAC said that IMG Academy "would person ligament transfers from non-designated third-party individuals and entities, chiefly located successful Mexico, into its slope relationship astatine a U.S. fiscal institution, for further recognition to each student-athlete account."

"IMG Academy would besides complaint payments to recognition cards that were connected record for each student-athlete," the OFAC continued. "In addition, erstwhile a affirmative end-of-year equilibrium existed connected either student-athlete’s account, IMG Academy would use the amounts from 1 world schoolhouse twelvemonth to the adjacent to fulfill a information of IMG Academy’s caller (tuition enrollment agreements) with the respective (student's guardian).

The OFAC said IMG Academy showed "reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions requirements."

General ambiance during Hudson Heinemann attends National Signing Day-Division 1 Football/Quarterback for Villanova University astatine IMG Academy connected Feb. 5, 2025, successful Bradenton, Florida.   (Jason Koerner/Getty Images for Hudson Heinemann)

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"Minimal owed diligence astatine immoderate constituent passim this process would person revealed that these customers were sanctioned. This nonaccomplishment allowed galore violations to hap implicit an extended play of time," the OFAC said.

"Although IMG whitethorn person lacked existent cognition that the individuals with whom it dealt with were sanctioned, IMG Academy did person existent cognition of the underlying transactions giving emergence to the evident violations. IMG Academy entered into yearly tuition enrollment agreements straight with the SDNs, invoiced the SDNs by name, and routinely communicated with each of them astir outgo obligations oregon the processing of overpayments, credits, oregon refunds into each respective pupil jock account."

IMG said successful a connection that it "fully cooperated" with OFAC’s probe aft it became alert of the guardians’ status.

Bradenton's IMG Academy settled a $1.7 cardinal liability assertion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control that said IMG provided services to children of Mexican cause cartels. (James A. Jones Jr./Bradenton Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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"Since that isolated incident, extended measures person been taken by IMG Academy to instrumentality a broad sanctions compliance program," the schoolhouse said, via The Athletic.

Notable alumni see J.J. McCarthy, Evan Neal, Carnell Tate, Bo Scarbrough, Jonathan Isaac, and Nelly Korda, among dozens of different nonrecreational athletes. 

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