NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
IMG Academy, a renowned high school that has become a springboard for aspiring college and professional athletes, will pay a fine of nearly $2 million after the parents of two athletes were found to have ties to a Mexican drug cartel.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced last week that guardians of high school students in Bradenton, Florida, committed 89 violations of anti-narcotics sanctions.
“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 engage in commerce with U.S. persons and gain access to the U.S. financial system,” OFAC said in a statement.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
The Division II Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships take place at IMG Academy on May 27, 2017, in Bradenton, Florida. (Photos by Matt Marriott/NCAA via Getty Images)
OFAC said IMG Academy would “receive wire transfers from undesignated third-party individuals and entities, primarily located in Mexico, to its bank account at a U.S. financial institution, for additional credit to each student-athlete account.”
“IMG Academy would also charge payments to the credit cards on file for each student-athlete,” OFAC continued. “Additionally, where there was a positive year-end balance on any student-athlete’s account, IMG Academy would apply amounts from one academic school year to the next to satisfy a portion of IMG Academy’s new (tuition enrollment agreements) with the respective (student’s guardian).
OFAC said the IMG Academy showed “reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions requirements.”
General atmosphere during Hudson Heinemann attends National Signing Day: Villanova University Division 1 Football/Quarterback at IMG Academy on February 5, 2025, in Bradenton, Florida. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images for Hudson Heinemann)
OLYMPIAN JOINS MICHAEL PHELPS IN EXTRAORDINARY GOLD MEDAL TERRITORY AFTER WINNING TENTH EVENT
“Minimum due diligence at any point in this process would have revealed that these customers were sanctioned. This failure allowed numerous violations to occur over an extended period of time,” OFAC said.
“While IMG may have lacked actual knowledge that the individuals it dealt with were sanctioned, IMG Academy did have actual knowledge of the underlying transactions that gave rise to the apparent violations. IMG Academy entered into annual tuition enrollment agreements directly with the SDNs, billed the SDNs by name, and routinely communicated with each of them regarding payment obligations or the processing of overpayments, credits or refunds on each respective student-athlete account.”
IMG said in a statement that it “fully cooperated” with the OFAC investigation after learning of the guardians’ status.
Bradenton’s IMG Academy settled a $1.7 million liability claim from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control that said IMG provided services to children of Mexican drug cartels. (James A. Jones Jr./Bradenton Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Since that isolated incident, IMG Academy has taken extensive steps to implement a comprehensive sanctions compliance program,” the school said via The Athletic.
Notable alumni include JJ McCarthy, Evan Neal, Carnell Tate, Bo Scarbrough, Jonathan Isaac and Nelly Korda, among dozens of other professional athletes.
