IMG Academy set to pay nearly $2 million in fines after students' parents linked to Mexican drug cartel

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IMG Academy, a renowned high school that has become a stepping stone for aspiring college and professional athletes, will pay a fine of nearly $2 million after it was found that two athletes’ parents had ties to a Mexican drug cartel.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced last week that the guardians of students at the Bradenton, Florida, prep school committed 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 release.

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The Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships are held at the IMG Academy on May 27, 2017, in Bradenton, Florida.  (Matt Marriott/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The OFAC said that IMG Academy "would receive wire transfers from non-designated third-party individuals and entities, primarily located in Mexico, into its bank account at a U.S. financial institution, for further credit to each student-athlete account."

"IMG Academy would also charge payments to credit cards that were on file for each student-athlete," the OFAC continued. "In addition, when a positive end-of-year balance existed on either student-athlete’s account, IMG Academy would apply the 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).

The OFAC said IMG Academy showed