Stephen Drain

Stephen is our Forensic Services Leader, and engages with clients in situations requiring a high level of trust, assisting them to prevent and respond to crisis situations.

Stephen specialises in all aspects of forensics and economic crime including the prevention, detection, and response to fraud, misconduct, corruption, and money laundering. He has led and investigated a wide range of financial crimes from initial investigation to final proceedings and is experienced in working discretely with boards and senior leaders to help them meet a range of challenges, including suspected fraud, probity concerns, and regulatory investigations.

Stephen is PwC New Zealand’s Ethics & Business Conduct Leader and sits on the firm’s Leadership Development Steering Committee with responsibility for partner leadership development.

Stephen’s early career was in the New Zealand Police and after qualifying as a detective he moved to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as an investigator. After leaving the SFO, Stephen had senior roles in leadership development and joined PwC in 2012, which has included time as a partner from 2016 to 2026. Stephen has led PwC’s Forensic Services team since 2016.

He is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) with CPA Australia and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Human Resources in New Zealand.

Engagements and investigations that Stephen has conducted include investigating numerous allegations of corruption and fraud allegations, including for central and local government organisations, supporting clients with significant cyber incident responses and providing expert evidence in forensic and investigation matters to the courts.  Whilst at the SFO Stephen investigated allegations of dishonest claiming of travel expenses against two District Court judges, investigating a former prime minister of Vanuatu for corruptly providing several hundred million dollars worth of loan guarantees, and fraudulent activities in public companies including Fortex Group and Equiticorp.

Stephen has developed and maintains a small rural property in Auckland and periodically blogs on leadership and related matters.