Dive Summary:

• The founder and creator of Beanie Babies, H. Ty Warner, has been ordered to pay $53 million in fines to the IRS for offshore tax evasion and FBAR violations, according to details of a plea agreement released by Forbes.
• Warner evaded nearly $1.2 million total in taxes for his activity in offshore Swiss accounts and stands to be fined by the IRS close to fifty times that amount.
• Tax evasion can carry a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

From the article:

Yet charges like Mr. Warner’s stratospheric bubble-bursting Beanie Baby tax and FBAR consequences are reminders that the dollars in question can get worse—catastrophically worse—than 27.5%. As for jail time, with sentencing guidelines based on the dollars involved, Mr. Warner may well face that too, despite his cooperation.