A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for a former dean of the University of Manitoba’s law school, following allegations of financial irregularities during his tenure.
The warrant for Jonathan Black-Branch was issued on March 30 for a charge of fraud involving an amount greater than $5,000, according to Officer Claude Chancy of the Winnipeg Police Service.
This text is a translation ofa CTV News article.
Mr. Black-Branch served as dean of the Faculty of Law from 2016 to 2020, a mandate initially intended to last five years. An internal investigation, triggered by a complaint, concluded that more than $600,000 in university funds had been misappropriated during this period, including for expenses related to university programs, dues, accommodation and meals.
Court records indicate that the majority of that sum — more than $518,000 — was spent on professional development programs between December 2017 and July 2019, at institutions including Harvard University and Cambridge University.
Mr. Black-Branch was fired in July 2020 and, at one point, left the country. Court documents filed in 2024 indicate his last known address is in Oxford, England, and suggest he resides in Switzerland.
The University of Manitoba sued Jonathan Black-Branch in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench and was awarded a default judgment in May 2025 in the amount of $679,269.98, plus court costs, bearing interest at a rate of three per cent per annum.
A spokesperson for the establishment said efforts to recover the funds were continuing.
“Liability is very important to the university, and UM intends to use all available collection remedies to obtain payment,” it said.
Disbarred again
In February, Jonathan Black-Branch was disbarred by the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales after being found guilty of five counts of professional misconduct.
The court concluded that the man, called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1998, had “on numerous occasions failed in his duty of integrity and had therefore committed professional misconduct and/or adopted conduct unbecoming of a lawyer”.
This decision followed a previous disbarment pronounced by the Law Society of Manitoba in February 2024, following a hearing lasting several months in the fall of 2023 which Jonathan Black-Branch did not attend. A 28-page document filed by the company said he requested several adjournments for medical reasons.
The Law Society’s Courts and Arbitration Service noted that Mr Black-Branch was also absent from its proceedings. He concluded that he failed to cooperate with the Law Society Standards Council and that he “failed to report promptly, if at all,” that he was the subject of disciplinary action by the Law Society of Manitoba.
Jonathan Black-Branch could request a new hearing due to his absence, it was added.
The University of Manitoba told CTV News additional measures have since been put in place to prevent fraud and financial irregularities, including a new university policy and a course on financial management and ethical conduct.
Officer Claude Chancy confirmed that the investigation into Black-Branch was continuing and said the Winnipeg Police Service could not provide further details.
CTV News attempted to contact Mr. Black-Branch by email, but had not heard back at the time of writing this article.
