Indeed, I couldn't help but think the title was clickbait, once I read that part of the article. The charts toward the start suggest the penalty maximums are 1

Indeed, I couldn't help but think the title was clickbait, once I read that part of the article. The charts toward the start suggest the penalty maximums are 15% + 25% (the article mentions a 100% penalty which was avoided). That would make 500k 140% of the back taxes, which means the penalties are only $143k. Crunchbase shows the first funding in Feb 2012. The accountant started in 2014. That's under $72k/year. "Lack of CFO costs Amicus $72k/year" wouldn't be much of a headline, though.