Audit flags ex-dean’s spending spree ‘Most concerning’ expenses total $643,000 Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
By: Maggie Macintosh Posted: 6:43 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 22, 2023

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This article was published 22/09/2023 (766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A University of Manitoba audit into a law dean’s expenses found he frequently paid personal bills with public school dollars and neglected students while the school’s decentralized reporting system allowed his rampant misspending to go unchecked for years.

Confidential minutes from a July 14, 2020, meeting — which were leaked to, and independently corroborated by, the Free Press this week — expose Jonathan Black-Branch’s pattern of inappropriate spending and related institutional gaps.

University president Michael Benarroch called the special summer meeting so the board of governors could be briefed on an investigation sparked by an internal tipster.

Per the minutes, Black-Branch’s “most concerning” expenses were $518,000 on personal professional development that distracted him from his dean duties, $50,000 between hospitality bills (including membership fees at the Manitoba Club) and a payment of $75,000 to the International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament.

Black-Branch, a lawyer with expertise in nuclear treaties, was president of the ISLAND foundation at the time and did not disclose his conflict of interest to the U of M.

“There were numerous examples of expenses without due regard for financial prudency, which demonstrate patterns of spending when reviewed in the aggregate,” per the meeting minutes.

 

According to the confidential document, the senior staffer generally mismanaged and misused operating dollars and endowment funds when he was in charge of Robson Hall from 2016 to 2020.

The former dean was also found to have charged the university for his annual travel over the winter break, excessive taxi trips, cellphone overages and filed meal per diem claims when food was provided at courses.

During his four years at the university, Black-Branch was a tenured professor and appointed himself as chairman of the Marcel A. Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law, a think tank with a mandate to research small businesses.

The centre operates out of the law school, with support from an endowment fund the July 2020 minutes indicate Black-Branch made “extensive use” of to bolster his personal resumé.

While proposing the board of governors terminate the dean, Benarroch said Black-Branch not only engaged in financial misconduct but also “insubordination” by refusing to respond to a financial review conducted between February and June 2020.

The leaked board of governors records indicate the professor claimed to be unable to work due to medical restrictions while refusing to provide supporting documentation and simultaneously delivering training to an external party.

The university also determined he was neglecting his duty to students. “He has been non-responsive to the graduate students under his supervision, in some cases since November,” the July 2020 minutes state.

 

Black-Branch has not spoken publicly about the matter. He did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

U of M records show his legal counsel’s response to the financial investigation was “all of his expenses were legitimate and that the university had condoned his actions by not bringing its concerns to his attention sooner.”

Black-Branch submitted he was not sufficiently trained in financial policies, law faculty support staff “explicitly and/or implicitly” endorsed his expenses, and he did not conceal his expenses. He also alleged there was a lack of controls in place and the auditing process was unfair.

University administrators dismissed his defense, but investigators acknowledged checks and balances were missing in U of M’s expense reporting system.

“The fact that the university operates in a decentralized environment may have contributed to issues in internal controls,” then-vice-president (administration) Lynn Zapshala-Kelln told the board of governors July 14, 2020.

Zapshala-Kelln highlighted concerns about Black-Branch’s ability to approve some of his own transactions, technological limitations in verifying expenses, and the “power dynamic” between a dean and their staff who process transactions.

The latter employees have “a significantly lower classification,” so they are not in a position of authority to question senior staff, she said, adding they may not have sufficient knowledge as to what is appropriate or why a purchase is made.

“It’s fair to say that, generally, we do seek repayment from individuals who are responsible for fraud or financial irregularities, and that is something that we did do in this case.”–Naomi Andrew

Over the last three years, U of M has declined to weigh-in on the scandal, citing privacy legislation prohibiting its ability to comment on an employee’s departure.

Naomi Andrew, current vice-president (administration), was made available to answer questions Friday, several days after the Law Society of Manitoba began a disciplinary hearing for Black-Branch.

(Preliminary details about U of M’s 2020 audit — which was sent to the society and prompted the professional watchdog to authorize a disciplinary charge in 2021 — were made public at a hearing that started this week and has since been postponed until Oct. 20.)

“What I can say is we did have controls and policies and procedures in place (including the whistleblower policy that prompted the 2020 audit). We continue to strengthen those,” Andrew told the Free Press.

In the wake of its internal review into Black-Branch’s transactions, U of M has created a specific policy on reporting fraud and financial irregularities and created a course on financial stewardship and ethical conduct. The new training program is mandatory for deans.

Andrew said the university has replenished the Desautels endowment fund via self-insurance, but she could not disclose how much money, if any, has been recovered from the ousted law dean.

“It’s fair to say that, generally, we do seek repayment from individuals who are responsible for fraud or financial irregularities, and that is something that we did do in this case,” she said, noting the university did not enter a non-disclosure agreement with Black-Branch.

A U of M spokesperson indicated the school filed a complaint with the law society and is respecting its independent process, although it will reassess whether to file a lawsuit against Black-Branch after his hearing is complete.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca