# IM Mastery Academy and the FTC: a $795.8 million judgment, a yacht, and what the court order really says

> The FTC and Nevada case against IM Mastery Academy (IYOVIA): the $795.8 million judgment, the asset surrender, the contempt motion and what is still open.

- Source: https://setupbook.io/blog/im-mastery-academy-ftc-case-explained
- Site: SetupBook
- Language: en
- Published: 2026-10-30
- Tags: news, regulation, mlm
- tr: https://setupbook.io/tr/blog/im-mastery-academy-ftc-davasi-795-8-milyon-dolar-hukum
- es: https://setupbook.io/es/blog/caso-im-mastery-academy-ftc-sentencia-795-8-millones
- pt: https://setupbook.io/pt/blog/caso-im-mastery-academy-ftc-explicado
- id: https://setupbook.io/id/blog/kasus-ftc-im-mastery-academy-iyovia-dijelaskan
- vi: https://setupbook.io/vi/blog/im-mastery-academy-ftc-phan-quyet-795-8-trieu-usd
- de: https://setupbook.io/de/blog/im-mastery-academy-ftc-fall-erklaert-urteil-yacht
- fr: https://setupbook.io/fr/blog/im-mastery-academy-ftc-affaire-iyovia-expliquee
- ar: https://setupbook.io/ar/blog/im-mastery-academy-ftc-case-explained

A US federal court order signed on 1 June 2026 puts a $795.8 million judgment on a trading-course company and its owners. It also makes them hand over, according to the FTC, eight homes, 13 building lots, 19 cars and a yacht. The company appears in court papers as International Markets Live (IML) and traded under the names IM Mastery Academy, iMarketsLive, IM Academy and, most recently, IYOVIA. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the state of Nevada say it used false earnings claims. The defendants neither admitted nor denied that.

Why should a trader care? Because the case shows, in documents, how a "learn to trade" business gets taken apart. You can follow the sales pitch, the recruiting layer, the asset freeze, the receiver and the sale of the assets. And in October a local news story mixed it up with a fake-platform warning, so a few facts need sorting out.

## Quick timeline

| Date | What happened | Where it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May 2025 | FTC and Nevada file a complaint against IML, its owners Chris and Isis Terry and several top salespeople (allegations) | FTC press release, complaint |
| 7 Aug 2025 | Three defendants settle for $2.5 million, with a $36 million judgment suspended | FTC press release |
| Aug 2025 | Court issues a preliminary injunction (a temporary court order) against three companies and the Terrys, announced 21 Aug | FTC press release |
| 4 Sep 2025 | Two more settlements announced: $10 million and $500,000 | FTC press release |
| 7 Nov 2025 | Third modified injunction: asset freeze and a court-appointed receiver | Court order, ECF 188 |
| 22 Dec 2025 | FTC and Nevada ask the court to order the defendants to show why they should not be held in contempt | Docket, ECF 215 |
| 23 and 26 Jan 2026 | Court holds a hearing and grants the show-cause request | Docket, ECF 227 and 228 |
| 3 Apr 2026 | Court accepts notice of a proposed settlement and stays the case | Docket, ECF 292 |
| 13 May 2026 | FTC announces the settlement with the five lead defendants | FTC press release |
| 1 Jun 2026 | Judge Cristina D. Silva signs the final order (the FTC lists it as 3 June) | Court order, ECF 361 |
| 1 Oct 2026 | WRTV in Indiana runs a story with an FTC warning about investment-training offers; it cites the case | WRTV |
| 15 Oct 2026 | Latest docket activity we could read: an order on claims by outside parties to one property | CourtListener docket |

## What is IML, and what did the FTC claim?

According to the complaint, IML sold forex, crypto and stock trading courses for roughly $100 to nearly $500 up front. After that, they renewed automatically every four weeks at about $100 to nearly $400. Extra "Add-On" tools, which were said to tell you when to buy and sell, cost more.

The complaint describes a second layer, a multi-level marketing (MLM) business, where people earn money by recruiting other people. Members paid $24.95 a month to become "independent business owners" and earned commissions for signing up new customers and new recruits.

The FTC and Nevada say this machine ran on false or baseless earnings claims. The press release talks about social media posts with luxury lifestyles, and about pitches such as retiring in your twenties. The complaint says many "educators" were really salespeople. It also says IML's own numbers showed nearly 60 percent of buyers stopped paying within a month and 90 percent within six months, and that most recruits earned little or nothing.

The FTC puts the total at more than $1.2 billion taken from consumers since 2018. All of this began as allegations, and none of it was tested at a trial because the case settled.

## What did the court do before the settlement?

In August 2025 the court granted a preliminary injunction against the three companies and the Terrys. It froze some assets and appointed a monitor to check compliance.

In November 2025 it went further. Judge Silva appointed a receiver (an outside manager who takes control of assets) and froze the defendants' assets. Her order says the plaintiffs had shown they were likely to succeed on several points. These include false or unsupported earnings claims and a false statement that the instructors were audited by the FTC. "Likely to succeed" is a preliminary finding, not a verdict.

The same order says the monitor found the defendants' financial disclosure forms were incomplete. It gives one example: a ring listed at $10,000 that had been valued at $2,874,482.

## What happened with the contempt motion?

On 22 December 2025, the FTC and Nevada asked the court to order the defendants to explain why they should not be held in contempt (punished for ignoring a court order). The motion said the defendants still had not delivered complete sworn financial statements or a sworn list of their assets abroad, first due in August 2025.

The defendants opposed the motion. Their filing also asserted the Fifth Amendment, the right not to testify against yourself. At the hearing on 23 January 2026, the minutes say Isis Terry did not appear. Her lawyers had asked on 21 January to let her appear by phone, and the judge refused on 22 January. The court then granted the show-cause request in a written order dated 26 January.

On 4 February the judge paused the deadline for the defendants' reply to the show-cause briefing while she considered their own request to stay the case. On 3 April the court accepted notice of a proposed settlement and stayed the case.

We found no contempt ruling in the docket text we could read, and the final order does not contain the word "contempt". If there was a contempt ruling, it is not in the sources we could read. Anyone who needs certainty should pull the full docket on PACER (the US federal court records system).

## What does the final order say?

The order is 64 pages. These are the parts that matter.

- **The judgment.** $795,763,490, owed "jointly and severally" (each can be held for the whole sum) by IML Inc., IM Mastery Academy Ltd., Assiduous Inc., Chris Terry and Isis Terry.
- **The surrender.** Within ten days they hand the receiver the assets listed in an attachment: Nevada building lots and homes, houses and condominiums in New York, Florida and Dubai, cars, a yacht, jewelry and watches. The FTC puts their value at nearly $90 million.
- **The suspension.** After the transfers, the rest of the judgment is suspended. If the court later finds a material hidden asset or a material misstatement in their sworn financial statements, the suspension can be lifted, and the full amount becomes due, minus what was paid, plus interest.
- **The ban.** All five defendants are permanently barred from selling trading training or investment opportunities, and from owning a stake in a business that does.
- **The rules.** Earnings claims need a reasonable basis and written proof that the results are typical. There are also rules on automatic-renewal billing and on telemarketing.
- **The fine print.** The defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations, but the order says the complaint's facts will be treated as true in later actions by the FTC or Nevada to enforce it, including in a bankruptcy case.
- **No appeal.** Both sides waived the right to appeal.

The FTC voted 2 to 0 to approve the order. The agency says it expects to recover more than $100 million in total, counting the earlier settlements. The order lets the FTC put the money into a fund for consumer relief such as refunds. We did not find a refund process announced.

The receiver has been selling the property in steps. The court approved the sale of a Las Vegas condominium for $3.4 million in February 2026 and a yacht in April 2026.

## What about the other defendants?

Five other people and companies settled earlier, each with a large judgment that is suspended once a smaller amount is paid:

- Global Dynasty Network, Jason Brown and Matthew Rosa: $2.5 million paid, $36 million suspended (7 August 2025).
- Alex Morton, a former executive vice president of sales: $10 million paid, $76.2 million suspended (announced 4 September 2025).
- Brandon Boyd, a salesman: $500,000 paid, $6.3 million suspended (announced 4 September 2025).

In each case the full judgment returns if the person is found to have lied about their finances.

## Which "$15 million" story is which?

Two different "$15 million" stories are going around.

The first is in the complaint. It alleges that IML found out that one of its popular instructors had doctored his trading results and that his advertised "$15 million trading account" was fake. It then alleges that salespeople in a chat group discussed keeping it quiet. The instructor is not a defendant, so we are not naming him. This is an allegation in a complaint.

The second is from WRTV, an Indiana TV station, published on 1 October 2026. An Indiana man invested $10,000 from his Roth IRA (a US retirement account) after months of study with an investing group. A trading platform showed the money had grown to $15 million. Experts the station consulted said the platform was fake. The story is built around a general warning from the FTC. It uses IM Mastery as an example of the wider problem, and it does not say the man's group had anything to do with IML.

## What the other side says

We could not open any statement from IML, the Terrys or their lawyers about the settlement. Some trade blogs report a company reaction to the 2025 complaint, but we could not read their pages, so we leave it out.

The record shows two positions. In the order, the defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations. In the contempt fight in January 2026, they opposed the motion and relied on the Fifth Amendment.

## What traders can take from it

- **A lifestyle post is not a track record.** The allegations here start with exactly that. Ask for a broker statement for the whole account, with dates, fees and withdrawals. Net profit after costs ([net P&L](https://setupbook.io/glossary/net-pnl)) is the number that counts.
- **Look at who is teaching.** If the "coach" earns more from recruiting than from trading, the pitch is about the recruiting. Search for a regulator register entry and read the income disclosure, if there is one.
- **A few winners prove little.** A handful of screenshots is a tiny [sample size](https://setupbook.io/glossary/sample-size). Ask what the average customer earned, not the best one.
- **Check the platform, not only the balance.** A number on a screen means little. Before trusting a platform, make a small withdrawal to a bank account in your own name and see whether it arrives.
- **Keep your own receipts.** Save the sales page, the price, the cancellation terms and every payment confirmation, with dates. Automatic renewals are a core part of this case.
- **Journal from your own data.** A [trading journal](https://setupbook.io/glossary/trading-journal) built from your own broker data, which is how SetupBook works, settles the argument over what you actually traded, so a course's promise can be compared with your real results. [How to keep one](https://setupbook.io/blog/how-to-keep-a-trading-journal) is a good place to start.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the IM Mastery Academy FTC settlement say?

It is a stipulated order, which means both sides agreed to the text. It sets a $795,763,490 judgment, makes the defendants hand over listed assets, suspends the rest, and bans them from selling trading training or investment opportunities. It also sets rules for earnings claims, automatic-renewal billing and telemarketing.

### Did the Terrys and IML admit they did anything wrong?

No. The order says the defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations. The order does say the complaint's facts will be treated as true in later actions by the FTC or Nevada to enforce the order, including in a bankruptcy case.

### Will the $795.8 million actually be paid?

Not all of it. The judgment is suspended after the assets are handed over. The FTC says those assets are worth nearly $90 million. The full amount can come back if the court finds the defendants hid assets or misstated their finances.

### Can IML or the Terrys appeal the order?

The order says both sides gave up the right to appeal. Other matters in the same case, such as claims by outside parties to some of the property, were still being handled in October 2026.

### Can customers get a refund?

The order lets the FTC put recovered money into a fund for consumer relief, such as refunds. We did not find a claims process announced as of 30 October 2026. If one opens, it will appear on the FTC's case page.

## Sources

- [FTC and State of Nevada take action against IM Mastery Academy, FTC press release, 1 May 2025](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/05/ftc-state-nevada-take-action-against-im-mastery-academy-deceiving-consumers): the complaint announcement.
- [Unredacted complaint, FTC and Nevada v. International Markets Live, Inc. (ECF 32, filed 20 May 2025)](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/I-Markets-Complaint.pdf): the allegations on prices, retention, instructors and the MLM layer.
- [Three defendants agree to pay $2.5 million, FTC press release, 7 Aug 2025](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/08/three-defendants-im-mastery-academy-scheme-agree-pay-25-million-settle-ftc-allegations): the first settlement.
- [FTC secures preliminary injunction, FTC press release, 21 Aug 2025](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/08/ftc-secures-preliminary-injunction-against-im-mastery-academy-its-owners): the first injunction.
- [Defendants pay $10.5 million, FTC press release, 4 Sep 2025](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/defendants-im-mastery-academy-scheme-pay-105-million-settle-ftc-allegations): the Morton and Boyd settlements.
- [Order entering the third modified preliminary injunction, 7 Nov 2025 (ECF 188)](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/immastery-order-emergencyinjunction.pdf): the receiver and the court's preliminary findings.
- [Plaintiffs' motion for an order to show cause, 22 Dec 2025 (ECF 215), CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70029561/215/federal-trade-commission-v-international-markets-live-inc/): the contempt request.
- [Docket, FTC v. International Markets Live, Inc., 2:25-cv-00760, CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70029561/federal-trade-commission-v-international-markets-live-inc/): hearing minutes, stays, property sales and the latest filings.
- [Stipulated order, signed 1 June 2026 (ECF 361)](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/IM-Mastery-Order_0.pdf): the final order.
- [Lead defendants to turn over tens of millions of dollars in assets, FTC press release, 13 May 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/05/lead-defendants-im-mastery-academy-mlm-scheme-turn-over-tens-millions-dollars-assets-settle-ftc): the settlement announcement.
- [IM Mastery case page, FTC](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/im-mastery): the list of documents, status "pending" as of its last update on 16 July 2026.
- [Investment training scams on the rise, FTC warns, WRTV, 1 Oct 2026](https://www.wrtv.com/news/investment-training-scams-on-the-rise-ftc-warns/): the Indiana story.

*This post is based on public sources as of October 30, 2026. Found a mistake? Write to info@setupbook.io.*