A former audit partner of BDO USA has pleaded guilty to lying to the SEC enforcement staff during investigative testimony. CPA Bryan N. Polozola of Richardson, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to government officials when he denied knowing of a payment made to his former employer for funds he had allegedly taken for his personal use.

The SEC has rejected the appeal of a Houston firm that was sanctioned by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. With a stay lifted, the permanent revocation of PCAOB registration will go into effect for CPA R. Everett Bassie and his firm, C.E. Bassie & Co. Bassie had appealed the bar and also a $75,000 civil money penalty ordered by the PCAOB for not producing a single requested document in 10 months and then ceasing to respond to the board requests.

TaxAct, whose purchase by H&R Block was halted by the government, has a new prospective buyer. The bidder is InfoSpace, an online search company based in Bellevue, Wash., which has signed a definitive agreement to buy the tax preparation software company for $287.5 million in cash. Meanwhile, InfoSpace CEO William J. Ruckelshaus indicated interest in additional acquisitions in the space to consolidate the online tax market.