Six months after a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued, Jonathan Black-Branch, former U of M law dean, has been arrested in France, with extradition proceedings underway to return him to Canada.
Black-Branch was employed as dean for the faculty of law at U of M in 2016 for a five-year term, slated to run from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021.
Four years into his appointment, Black-Branch reportedly took leave without formal notice. Around the same period, a whistleblower filed a complaint with an investigative body at the U of M concerning the alleged misuse of funds by a senior employee.
An internal investigation conducted between 2019 and 2020 examined the complaints, and its final report was submitted to the office of the auditor general of Manitoba.
Shortly after leaving the university, Black-Branch was appointed head of the University of Southampton’s school of law in England. The appointment was later revoked, and he ceased to be a member of the school’s faculty.
The complaints against Black-Branch centred on misuse of some university funds, including a research and training endowment fund for which he was responsible for authorizing expenditures as director and chair.
U of M later referred the matter to the Law Society of Manitoba, which investigated the allegations and found Black-Branch guilty of professional misconduct involving the embezzlement of more than half a million dollars. It determined that the evidence presented at his disciplinary hearing was sufficient to support the findings.
Following the society’s findings and disciplinary action, the U of M asked the Winnipeg Police Service to investigate the matter, reversing their earlier position to not press charges against him.
A civil lawsuit filed by the U of M in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench sought $660,994.60 in damages and alleged that Black-Branch breached the terms of his employment contract.
The lawsuit also alleged that Black-Branch used university funds to reimburse expenses already covered. Other expenditures cited in the lawsuit included approximately $17,000 in membership fees for private clubs, $21,000 for 201 meals at the Manitoba Club and $75,000 to his own external corporation.
In May 2025, the court ordered Black-Branch to pay the university over $680,000, and more than $3,000 in costs, as well as an annual interest of three per cent. The default judgment was delivered in absentia after several attempts to serve him.
Black-Branch was dismissed by the U of M in 2020 and disbarred in Manitoba in February 2024, in addition to being given a fine of $36,000. Two years later, he was removed from England’s roll of lawyers and was fined £2,670. His extradition case is currently before a French court.
