A three-month investigation into more than two dozen allegations against the president of First Nations University of Canada, commissioned by the institution's board in 2023, concluded with a stark assessment of her conduct.

"The Investigator found that [President Jacqueline Ottmann] created a "circle of favor" around and inside her office, which attaches to the individuals whom she favors, and excludes those whom she does not favor from having influence," said the 200-plus page report by Deloitte Legal, an affiliate of the university's then-accounting firm Deloitte LLP.

"This phenomenon is sometimes termed 'empire building.'"

The report found Ottmann violated financial policies, disregarded oversight and control systems, and was involved in multiple cases of nepotism.

While Deloitte was finalizing that report in mid-2023, Ottmann fired the key whistleblower, Jason Wong, the university's VP of finance and administration.

In a separate confidential report, a preliminary draft of which was provided to CBC, Deloitte Legal found, on a balance of probabilities, that the firing violated several university policies and "was at least in part, retaliatory."

That report said the decision could "have a chilling effect on other employees' willingness to bring forward complaints in good faith."

CBC obtained the main report and the report into Wong's firing this summer. Deloitte found that most of the allegations leveled against Ottmann were substantiated on a balance of probabilities standard, meaning the behaviours were more likely than not to have occurred.

CBC asked Ottmann for comment about the findings of these reports but she did not reply.

Some on the FNUniv board, like Allan Adam, the board's vice-chair, voted to fire Ottmann. But the majority, made up of First Nations chiefs, stood by her.

Adam worries that First Nations University, which has a history of political interference, may once