A former University of Manitoba law dean wanted in Canada on a fraud charge was arrested this spring in a suburb of Paris and is being detained, a French court official has confirmed. Jonathan Black-Branch was arrested on April 21 in Neuilly-sur-Seine and has not been released, Lauriane Pinard, an official with the Versailles Court of Appeal, said in an email to CTV News on Friday. Asked whether that meant he was in detention, Pinard confirmed he is being detained. Neuilly-sur-Seine, an affluent municipality just west of Paris, had about 60,000 residents in 2023, according to France’s national statistics agency. A provisional arrest request was signed on April 1 and an extradition request was made on May 11, Pinard said. The Versailles Court of Appeal is handling the case, and to the court’s knowledge, Black-Branch does not hold French citizenship. She said she has no other information to share at this time. Justice Canada confirmed Canada has requested Black-Branch’s extradition from France to face charges in Manitoba. Global Affairs Canada told CTV News it is “aware of the detention,” adding that “consular officials stand ready to provide assistance.” Winnipeg police previously confirmed Black-Branch, 64, was arrested in France but would not say when or where in the country he was arrested. They also said last month the extradition process is ongoing before the French courts. A Canada-wide warrant for his arrest was issued on March 30 on a charge of fraud over $5,000. Const. Stephen Spencer with the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed the Financial Crime Unit is leading the investigation. Spencer said more information will be provided “should the extradition application be successful and Black-Branch be returned to Winnipeg.” The charge of fraud has not been proven against him. Accused of misappropriating university funds Black-Branch was appointed law dean at the University of Manitoba starting in July 2016, for a term that was intended to last five years. In an announcement of his appointment archived online, the university cited his academic leadership roles in Britain and Denmark and his research on nuclear non-proliferation law. It said the faculty of law could look forward to a “very promising future” under his leadership. However, his term ended early. An internal investigation, prompted by a complaint, found he had misappropriated more than $660,000 in university funds while serving as dean. The university terminated his employment in July 2020, and at some point, he left the country. The University of Manitoba sued Black-Branch in the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba in August 2024 to recover the funds. According to the lawsuit, he had access to multiple university funds as dean, including general operating funds and faculty endowment funds, and spent them on professional development, club memberships, accommodations and meals. The claim alleges he spent more than $518,000 on professional development programs between December 2017 and July 2019, including an executive MBA and executive LLM, as well as courses at Harvard University, Cambridge Judge Business School and the Yale Global Executive Leadership Program. It also alleges he caused the university to pay $75,000 to a nuclear disarmament non-profit where he served as president of the board of trustees, charging the payment to a separate university fund earmarked for law programs and staffing. The lawsuit alleges he avoided oversight by routing the payments through a different approval system than the one his direct supervisor would review, then approving them himself using his own authority within the faculty of law. It says the university’s internal audit found he acted in a manner “designed to conceal the misappropriation” and to avoid oversight by others at the university. The university was granted a default judgment of $679,269.98, plus legal costs, in May 2025. The university said last month that efforts to collect on the judgment are ongoing and has previously said it has strengthened its financial oversight and accountability measures. Court documents filed by the university’s legal counsel list Black-Branch’s last known address as Oxford, England, but note there was “some suspicion” he may have been residing in Switzerland. Black-Branch was disbarred by the Law Society of Manitoba in February 2024 and later disbarred by the Bar Standards Board for England and Wales.
