U.S. citizen and New York resident, Josephine Bhasin, pled guilty to charges of willingly filing false tax returns, false amended tax returns, and false FBARs in relation to an undisclosed offshore account she held with HSBC. Ms. Bhasin will receive a maximum sentence of 3 years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000. These criminal penalties are in addition to civil penalties, which Ms. Bhasin has agreed to; the arrangement includes a civil penalty of 50% of the high year on the account during 2004 to 2009.

IRS launched a second amnesty initiative for U.S. taxpayers on Feb. 8, 2011 for undisclosed offshore accounts. The 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) is based on the previous disclosure program that ran through October of 2009.