IMG Academy, a prestigious academic and athletic training institution located in Bradenton, Florida, has reached a settlement of over $1.7 million following allegations of accepting tuition from families with ties to a Mexican drug cartel. The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the settlement on February 12, 2023, specifying that IMG Academy would pay $1,720,000 to resolve 89 cases of apparent violations of counternarcotics sanctions.
According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the violations stemmed from IMG’s acceptance of tuition fees on behalf of two student athletes whose parents had been sanctioned due to their financial contributions to a Mexican drug trafficking organization. These students attended the academy from 2018 to 2022, with annual tuition fees ranging between $98,867 and $102,235, typically transferred via wire from third-party individuals in Mexico.
The investigation revealed that these payments violated the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations. The department indicated that IMG Academy’s actions inadvertently facilitated access for individuals associated with the drug cartel to conduct commerce within the U.S. and utilize the U.S. financial system. Despite the severity of the situation, the Treasury described IMG’s violations as “non-egregious,” highlighting the institution’s cooperation throughout the investigation and its prompt reporting of the issues once they were identified.
The Treasury Department emphasized that IMG Academy demonstrated a lack of diligence regarding U.S. sanctions requirements, specifically in failing to perform the necessary sanctions screening checks on its financial counterparts. In response to the violations, IMG Academy issued a statement affirming the implementation of a “comprehensive sanctions compliance program” to prevent future occurrences.
This incident serves as a reminder for educational institutions to maintain stringent compliance with financial regulations, ensuring that they do not inadvertently support illicit activities. The commitment made by IMG Academy to enhance its compliance protocols provides hope that the facility will strengthen its operations moving forward, safeguarding against similar issues while continuing to provide quality education and training to its students.