Former PwC partners Peter Konidaris and Paul McNab find new roles

Pushed out over the government tax scandal, former PwC senior partners Peter Konidaris and Paul McNab have found new roles, the former at KordaMentha and the latter via a personal practice launch.

Two former senior PwC partners caught up in the firm’s government tax breach scandal have taken on new gigs, with heavyweight Peter Konidaris headed to turnaround consultancy KordaMentha and Paul McNab launching his own tax advisory business after being forced out of DLA Piper over the affair.

The moves come as another named partner – Richard Gregg – continues legal action over being dumped. All have denied culpability.

As reported by the AFR, Konidaris, PwC’s former national head of government, health, infrastructure and defence and a recent member of the Big Four’s executive committee, has now joined restructuring and turnaround specialist KordaMentha as a consultant. Konidaris previously spent more than a decade and a half at PwC after kicking off his career at Arthur Andersen, and prior to his most recent role served as Melbourne managing partner.

“I have dealt with KordaMentha for the past 15 years and have been hugely impressed by its history and its ability to remain staunchly independent. I am now looking forward to the next phase of my professional career,” Konidaris said in a statement, while in an internal staff memo co-founder Mark Korda described the firm’s newest recruit as a “well-known and respected senior leader” in the Australian business community.

“We know Peter very well, because we have worked alongside him for many years jointly assisting mutual clients in the market,” the email reads.“He has performed outstanding work throughout his career and will be a tremendous asset to the KordaMentha team. Peter is based in Melbourne and will work across all service lines, supporting teams with their work for public and private sector clients, as well as business development.”

Meanwhile, Paul McNab, who was among the first cohort of former PwC tax partners publicly outed for their involvement in the confidentiality breach, has now launched his own practice – McNab Tax Lawyers – to serve clients who have stuck fat through the recent travails. McNab had been with PwC for more than two decades before departing for DLA Piper in 2020, but left the law firm by mutual consent when the tax affair came to light.

He defended himself at the time; “It is noteworthy that PwC has taken this action to name former partners only. I had no forewarning or opportunity to respond. For the record, I was not involved in any Treasury consultations regarding MAAL where confidential information was discussed. In addition, I trusted that the information shared with me as a partner would comply with any confidentiality agreements that may have been in place.”

As per the AFR, McNab is also keenly watching the outcome of legal action brought before the courts by fellow named partners Richard Gregg and Neil Fuller, the former who has already successfully sued PwC over not following proper protocols in his attempted firing, while Fuller’s matter has yet to be heard in the NSW district court. PwC is expected to release the details of an internal independent investigation toward the end of the month.