Suspicions around former U of Manitoba law school dean's expenses surfaced in 2019, hearing told
Bryce Hoye | CBC News | Posted: November 22, 2023 12:32 AM | Last Updated: November 22, 2023
Jonathan Black-Branch faces law society integrity breach charge over allegations of misspending funds
A former financial assistant at the University of Manitoba's law school says she first noticed red flags around expenses from the former law school dean in late 2019 — including a request to set up a Swiss bank account and transactions linked to a foundation of his.
The financial assistant was one of two witnesses a Law Society of Manitoba panel heard from Tuesday, at a hearing related to allegations that Jonathan Black-Branch misused or mismanaged university funds during his time as dean of the U of M law school.
Chenise Robert, a former financial assistant for the law school, told the independent disciplinary panel that when she asked him questions about the expenses, she could sense "agitation."
"He tried to divert my attention to other places, and he was very good at doing that," she said.
Black-Branch is facing a breach of integrity charge from the law society, the independent regulator for lawyers in Manitoba.
He wasn't present Tuesday's hearing at the law society headquarters in Winnipeg. His request to have the proceedings adjourned due to health reasons, which he had made before, was again denied by the panel.
Lawyer Grant Mitchell, the law society panel chairperson, said the latest doctor's note submitted lacked details on Black-Branch's prognosis, treatment plan or timeline, or whether accommodations could be made to allow him to participate.
In September, Rocky Kravetsky, a lawyer for the society, said Black-Branch was accused of spending close to $500,000 out of an endowment fund for a U of M-based research and training centre on expenses that had "nothing to do" with the goals of the fund.
Black-Branch was hired as the dean of the Winnipeg-based university's law school in 2016 on a term that was to last until 2021.
He went on leave in May 2020. In August that year, CBC reported that his departure was sudden and came with no public explanation.
About a week earlier, half a dozen law professors wrote a letter to the Law Society of Manitoba with concerns tied to Black-Branch's tenure and questions related to his departure.
The August 2020 letter outlined findings of an internal investigation, launched sometime in 2019-20, that found a senior U of M employee misused and mismanaged money. That investigation did not name the employee.
That same month, Black-Branch was announced as the new head of the University of Southampton's law school. The U.K.-based university reversed its decision about a week later, citing a "change in circumstances."
Witnesses testify
Marcia Kort, a former executive assistant to Black-Branch and office manager for the law department, was the first witness to testify before the panel Tuesday.
Kort was involved in completing expense reports from Black-Branch, including those for meals, travel and professional development courses, she said.
When there were details missing, Kort said she would meet with Black-Branch to get that information for financial staff who processed expense claims. Expense sheets would be completed and sent for review to the financial assistant in the department — Chenise Robert at the time.
Kort told the panel of one case in January 2020 when Robert was processing charges and had questions.
"She was asking more questions and he was travelling at the time, and he phoned me and said, 'Just tell Chenise to stop asking questions and pay the bill,'" Kort told the panel.
Robert said she heard from Kort that Black-Branch had "basically told me to stop asking questions … which I took as a threat at the time."
She said she had become increasingly suspicious of various expense claims from the former dean beginning in late 2019.
"It was something that bothered me, but my hands were very tied and I also was in a very awkward place with him being the head of the faculty," said Robert.
Some of her concerns related to expenses incurred at the Manitoba Club, a private members-only venue in Winnipeg, she said. Others were for accounts associated with a professional development educational program, the hearing heard.
"I ended up picking up on it after a while.… It didn't add up," said Robert.
Kravetsky said the concerns eventually became the subject of whistleblower complaint, which was followed by the U of M's internal investigation in 2020.
Robert said she was not the one who initiated that process.
A spokesperson for the U of M law school said as a result of that investigation "a number of measures were taken to strengthen internal controls" beginning in 2021.
That includes quarterly summaries of all deans' expenses prepared for review reviewed by the U of M chief financial officer and comptroller.
A directive was also issued underscoring how "all professional development and professional membership expenses must have documented pre-approval from the employee's supervisor," the U of M spokesperson said in a statement.
Kravetsky said Black-Branch is currently on "non-practising status" in Manitoba and Britain but still retains his law licence.
If found guilty of misconduct, he could be reprimanded or face disbarment, a law society spokesperson said.