A former partner at BDO Seidman has pleaded guilty to conspiring with others in a tax evasion scheme worth over $200m (£141m). Michael Kerekes, an ex-partner in the Los Angeles office, told a US district judge in Manhattan that 'I knew what I was doing was against the law' Reuters has reported. Kerekes worked with the firm for 10 years from 1998 to 2008, he is cooperating with a larger government investigation into tax shelters, the court heard. He has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of tax evasion, facing up to five years in prison on each count when he is sentenced in March 2010. BDO Seidman said in a statement that Kerekes 'was a member of a group of partners within the firm that marketed tax shelter products. That group was dissolved by BDO several years ago. BDO Seidman has cooperated fully with the government's tax shelter investigation and will continue to do so. The firm does not intend to comment further on this matter,' it added. A spokesman for the firm said the revelations are the latest development in ongoing litigation with the Internal Revenue Service that originated in 2002 involving dozens of accounting firms, law firms and financial services companies.