IMG Academy has agreed to pay a $1.72 million fine after the sports-focused boarding school in Bradenton, Fla., processed tuition payments for two student-athletes whose parents had ties to a Mexican-based drug cartel, according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
OFAC announced last week that on 89 occasions, IMG accepted tuition, lodging and other payments from the students’ parents from 2019 to 2025, a violation of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. The school entered into tuition agreements and processed payments connected to the parents, who were listed on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list for providing financial support to a sanctioned Mexican drug trafficking organization, according to the office.
According to the agreement, IMG entered into yearly tuition contracts with third-party individuals and received payments — including wire transfers and credit card transactions — routed through non-designated third parties, primarily located in Mexico. If balances remained at the end of a school year, IMG rolled them over to subsequent academic years, OFAC said, adding that those transactions were then exchanged for the attendance and enrollment of two student-athletes.
OFAC stated the conduct was “not voluntarily self-disclosed” and that it had already initiated an investigation when IMG later notified authorities. It did not name the students and parents, or the sports the students played at IMG, which has trained thousands of athletes who have gone on to play college and professional sports. The students attended the school between 2018 and 2023, according to OFAC.
In January 2018, one parent enrolled their child at IMG for five years until the student-athlete graduated in spring 2023. The parents’ payment obligations to IMG ranged from $47,026 for half a semester to $98,867 for a full academic year, according to OFAC.
OFAC said the second parent enrolled their child into an IMG program in July 2020 for two years until the student-athlete withdrew in June 2022. The parents’ payment obligations ranged from $100,549 to $102,235 for each academic year, according to the office.
In a statement to The Athletic on Tuesday, IMG said it didn’t have an OFAC sanctions compliance program in place to prevent, detect and report the violations. The school said it therefore entered into tuition enrollment agreements and collected fees from individuals who were “unknowingly on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals” list.
“IMG Academy is committed to maintaining the highest standards of compliance and integrity in all aspects of our operations,” IMG said in its statement. “Upon becoming aware of their status, we disclosed the matter to OFAC and fully cooperated with its investigation. Since that isolated incident, extensive measures have been taken by IMG Academy to implement a comprehensive sanctions compliance program.”
The school also said it has hired a new chief legal officer to implement a sanctions compliance program.
— The Athletic‘s Manny Navarro contributed to this report.