IMG Academy Agrees to $1.7 Million Settlement for Accepting Tuition from Families Tied to Mexican Drug Cartels

IMG Academy, an elite academic and sports training facility in Florida, has agreed to pay a more than $1.7 million settlement for accepting tuition from families tied to Mexican drug cartels.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control confirmed the settlement on February 12, adding that the IMG Academy agreed to pay $1,720,000 to “settle 89 apparent violations of counternarcotics sanctions,” per WTSP.

According to the department, IMG accepted tuition fees on behalf of two student athletes whose parents had been sanctioned for providing financial support or services to a Mexican drug trafficking organization. The students were enrolled at the academy between 2018 and 2022.

Those tuition payments ranged from $98,867 to $102,235 per academic year and were typically made through wire transfers from third-party individuals in Mexico, according to the release.

In total, the department says, 89 payments were found to be in violation of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that the academy allowed drug trafficking organization to support two children in achieving an elite education in athletics and academics. However, the treasury stopped short of calling the violation egregious, noting that it cooperated throughout the investigation.

“As a result of IMG Academy’s conduct, designated individuals who provided financial support and services to a sanctioned Mexican drug cartel were able to conduct commerce with U.S. persons and gain access to the U.S. financial system,” the Treasury Department wrote.

The academy said it implemented “a comprehensive sanctions compliance program.”

“IMG Academy is committed to maintaining the highest standards of compliance and integrity in all aspects of our operations,” the academy said in a statement.

“Between 2018 and 2022, IMG Academy did not have an OFAC sanctions compliance program in place and entered into tuition enrollment agreements and collected fees from two individuals who were unknowingly on OFAC’s SDN List,” it added. “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.”