‘Huge breach of integrity’: former law dean accused of spending $500K of U of M funds on self

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This article was published 20/09/2023 (768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An ousted law dean is accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the University of Manitoba to register for U.S. Ivy League courses to bolster his personal resumé and frequently expensing personal dinner and drink tabs.

Details surrounding Jonathan Black-Branch’s unexplained exit from the helm of Robson Hall in 2020 were finally revealed this week, as his long-awaited professional disciplinary hearing got underway.

Despite the defendant’s attempts to delay proceedings indefinitely, a panel began hearing evidence in the case against him Wednesday afternoon.

Rocky Kravetsky, lawyer for the Law Society of Manitoba, alleged Black-Branch abused his position of power at the U of M and his actions were both deceitful and constitute “a huge breach of integrity.”

Kravetsky spoke about documents showing the defendant spent U of M funds on personal upskilling, including $150,000 to complete a program at Harvard Business School — which was unrelated to his work at Robson Hall — and $80,000 to complete a certificate at an adjunct school of Yale University.

Black-Branch also accepted a visiting fellow position at Cambridge University’s Clare Hall, starting in 2019, and charged his international accommodation to his Winnipeg employer, according to the society’s submission.

Sources told the Free Press that Black-Branch appointed himself chairman of the Marcel A. Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law shortly after he became dean of Robson Hall in 2016-17.

That title gave him access to an endowment fund established to operate the centre and fulfill its mandate to research small-business owners and their challenges and successes.

The senior staffer, who worked at U of M until he went on an unexplained leave in May 2020 that became permanent that summer, took about a half-million dollars from the endowment fund and used it for expenses unrelated to the centre, Kravetsky said.

“He takes that half-a-million dollars and he spends it on nothing that has to do with the aims of (the research hub he was overseeing) but has only to do with enhancing his own resumé.”

“He takes that half-a-million dollars and he spends it on nothing that has to do with the aims of (the research hub he was overseeing) but has only to do with enhancing his own resumé.”–Rocky  Kravetsky

 

The case against Black-Branch also includes 141 expense claims from the Manitoba Club and 62 receipts from Across the Board Game Café.

“Every single one of 141 claims he made was false. Every one of those is made on the basis that (it) is a hospitality expense, that he is entertaining somebody for university business — and every one of those 141 has a chit that says ‘one person,’” Kravetsky said, noting U of M undertook an audit that concluded the former dean spent inappropriately at the private social club on Broadway.

The watchdog’s lawyer called on Nick Mann, manager of Across the Board, to be a witness at the hearing and answer questions about Black-Branch’s status as a regular customer.

Throughout a 40-minute session, Mann was asked about Black-Branch’s frequent spending at the board game venue and restaurant in Winnipeg’s Exchange District.

“He would generally come in, he would sit at a seat at the bar, he would order usually a food item and a drink for inside, and would also order a smoothie and pizza, generally to go, at the same time,” the manager said.

Asked about whether he was aware if Black-Branch was doing a study of the business or undertaking business meetings at the venue, Mann said the customer was usually alone and did not discuss his occupation with servers.

“Every single one of 141 claims he made was false. Every one of those is made on the basis that (it) is a hospitality expense, that he is entertaining somebody for university business — and every one of those 141 has a chit that says ‘one person.’”–Rocky  Kravetsky

Black-Branch, who is currently living in the U.K., did not participate in the proceedings either in-person or online.

Citing his mental health, the former dean has repeatedly indicated he is not fit to partake in a hearing and provided limited information to back-up that claim since the legal profession’s watchdog started investigating him about three years ago.

“There is a public interest in knowing whether he is guilty of the very serious disciplinary offences, very serious ethical offences that he is accused of,” Kravetsky said while arguing Black-Branch was given ample time to provide sufficient proof of his alleged health issues Wednesday.

The disciplinary panel, made up of two lawyers and a public representative, sided with the society and rejected the defendant’s multiple requests — the latest of which was tabled early Wednesday — to adjourn this week’s hearings.

Panel chairman Grant Mitchell told a hearing room submissions suggest Black-Branch’s view is he had authorization – “either express or implied from the person to whom he reported for the expenses he incurred” – to spend school funds in the way he did.

Kravetsky noted university policies show expectations for deans, and Black-Branch failed to comply with internal rules. In some instances, Black-Branch received approvals from subordinates, he said.

“There is a public interest in knowing whether he is guilty of the very serious disciplinary offences, very serious ethical offences that he is accused of.”–Rocky  Kravetsky

“If his defence is, ‘Your cops didn’t do a good job and they didn’t catch me.’ That’s not a defence,” Kravetsky said.

“In some instances, at least, that appears to be what he said to the university’s investigators (during the U of M audit): ‘All these people knew what I was doing and they didn’t stop me.’ That doesn’t make it right.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca