Florida's IMG Academy Fined $1.7M for Accepting Fees Linked to Mexican Drug Cartel

IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. has reportedly been fined close to $2 million for accepting tuition fees linked to drug cartels.

IMG Academy (FL) has agreed to pay a fine clos to $2 million for accepting tuition fees for students linked to Mexican drug cartels. / Stacy White

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Thursday, Feb. 12, that IMG Academy will be fined $1.72 million for accepting tuition fees for two students whose parents are linked to Mexican drug cartels.

"Over five consecutive years, IMG Academy repeatedly transacted with
two individuals whom OFAC sanctioned based upon their ties to a sanctioned Mexican-based drug
cartel," the release reads.

According to the report, IMG Academy’s continued tuition transactions for the two students racked up 89 violations of counternarcotics 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 conduct commerce with U.S. persons and gain access to the U.S. financial system,” the OFAC said in a statement.

The Miami Herald reported IMG received wire transfers from third-party individuals in Mexico as part of the tuition agreements. IMG Academy therefore had the names of the sanctioned individuals, and OFAC said the academy failed to screen them, according to the federal office.

The two students were enrolled at the juggernaut sports school between 2018 and 2022. The release and reports do not share the students' information or what sport they played. However, tuition amount was disclosed, which was between $97,867 to $102,235 per academic year.

• FULL RELEASE FROM OFAC

MORE ON IMG ACADEMY'S ATHLETIC PROWESS

IMG Academy is one of the most well-known prep academies in the United States. The boarding school is renown for taking in teenage athletes and breeding them into high-level college athletes and professionals. The school's website says its placed 150 student-athletes into the professional ranks in various sports in the last decade.

In a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald, IMG Academy said it disclosed the issue to OFAC when it became aware of the situation and has since started additional screening measures.

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

“Upon becoming aware of their status, we disclosed the matter to OFAC and fully cooperated with its investigation,” the statement continued. “Since that isolated incident, extensive measures have been taken by IMG Academy to implement a comprehensive sanctions compliance program.”

The boys basketball team is currently 17-9 overall amid the 2025-26 season. The football team went 9-0 this past fall.

MONEY IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

With the rise of NIL, money talk among high school athletics is far less taboo nowadays, but it doesn't make it legal.

The biggest example came in Southern California this past fall when Brett Steigh, known as the 'Money Man', came went on a Youtube show and told reporter Tarek Fattal that he pays families up to $50,0000 plus expenses to play football.

Steigh said he's been doing it since 2018.

His most recent act blew up at Bishop Montgomery High School where 19 football players were deemed ineligible due to 'undue influence', according to the CIF Southern Section, which included falsifying paperwork and illegal recruiting.

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