Jeffrey Rath shows his support for Mitch Sylvestre as he submits signatures for a separation referendum to Elections Alberta in Edmonton, on May 4.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
A judge has temporarily frozen more than $8.5-million in assets belonging to Jeffrey Rath, a lawyer and prominent voice in Alberta’s separatist movement, and his legal firm after a First Nation alleged misappropriation of money that he was overseeing as the band’s trustee.
Alberta Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Marion issued the freezing order, known as a Mareva injunction, at a virtual court hearing on Friday. The order will last at least until a Wednesday hearing, when a judge will consider whether to extend it pending further proceedings.
A Mareva injunction is a rare but powerful legal tool that allows for a plaintiff’s lawyer to press for funds to be blocked. In 2022, it was used by an Ontario Superior Court judge to freeze millions of dollars in cash and cryptocurrency raised for the COVID-19 convoy protests in Ottawa.
Mr. Rath has become one of the most vocal boosters of Alberta independence, a campaign that has been pushing for a binding secession vote for more than a year. Premier Danielle Smith has scheduled an Oct. 19 referendum that will ask Alberta voters to pick between remaining in Canada or beginning the legal process to hold a second, binding referendum.
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Justice Marion’s ruling was in response to an application by Northern Alberta’s Tallcree First Nation to remove Mr. Rath and his company, Rath Professional Corporation, from overseeing the band’s roughly $15-million trust.
The fund was created after the nation reached a settlement with the federal government in 2017 over broken agricultural promises made more than a century ago. The funds are meant to be distributed to Tallcree members when they turn 18 years old.
Court documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show that the Tallcree First Nation alleges that Mr. Rath moved $8.5-million in November, 2025 from the trust to his private corporation – the same amount an Alberta Court of King’s Bench judge ordered him to repay Tallcree over a fee dispute that the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld last November.
“Rath has refused to disclose the whereabouts of these funds. Their whereabouts are currently unknown,” says the application filed on July 8 by Tallcree Chief Rupert Meneen.
Separatist lawyer Jeffrey Rath listens to premier Danielle Smith at the United Conservative Party AGM in Edmonton, Alberta on Saturday, November 29, 2025. Amber Bracken for The Globe and MailAmber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
The First Nation also alleges that Mr. Rath recently disclosed financial statements showing that he charged the band roughly $6.4-million in administrative and professional fees between 2024 and 2025. It describes the fees as “unprecedented.”
Edward Halt, legal counsel for Mr. Rath, declined to comment. Chief Meneen’s legal brief references a July 3 e-mail from Mr. Rath that says: “My position remains that all funds were properly paid out pursuant to the terms of the trust.”
In an affidavit filed on June 25, Mr. Rath said the fees were the product of earlier legal actions instigated by Chief Meneen.
Tallcree First Nation pointed to its court filings when asked for comment on the Mareva injunction.
Over the past year and a half, Mr. Rath has appeared on Fox News in the U.S., travelled the province touting the benefits of independence and met with members of the U.S. State Department to discuss Alberta’s potential secession.
He has also appeared in court to defend against legal attempts to quash a petition aimed at triggering a secession vote. In May, an Alberta judge struck down the petition initiated by independence organization Stay Free Alberta from being approved, citing the duty to consult First Nations.
However, an Alberta Court of Appeals judge ruled last month that Elections Alberta could begin the process of counting the 301,000 signatures that Mr. Rath says were collected this winter.
Alberta separatists rally outside the offices of Elections Alberta before turning in a petition to trigger a referendum on separating from the rest of Canada in Edmonton, Alta., on May 4.Todd Korol/Reuters
Mr. Rath has spent much of his career representing First Nations – including in several claims against the federal government.
In 2017, he represented Tallcree in a $57-million settlement with Ottawa over broken agricultural promises early in Confederation. It is one of several settlements that the federal Liberal government has agreed to pay First Nations over the past decade.
Tallcree’s fee agreement with Mr. Rath required the band to pay him and his firm $11.5-million, a 20-per-cent slice of the final settlement.
In 2018, however, Tallcree successfully challenged the fee in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench and Mr. Rath was ordered to pay back $8.5-million, allowing him to keep the remaining $3-million. The judge overseeing the case called the fee “unreasonable.” Mr. Rath’s appeal was dismissed by the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in 2023 declined to hear his challenge to the decision.
Mr. Rath has continued as trustee of Tallcree First Nation, responsible for distributing the settlement money to band members when they turn 18.
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Tallcree first sought a Mareva injunction in late June when, according to its legal brief, Mr. Rath turned over financial documents showing that Rath PC had charged $6-million in administrative and professional fees since 2024. Chief Meneen said Mr. Rath had stopped providing audited financial statements after 2020.
In response, on June 26, Court of King’s Bench Justice Shane Parker temporarily removed Mr. Rath as trustee, replacing him with BMO Trust Company – but declined to impose a freezing order.
After receiving all financial documents, BMO found that in November, 2025, Rath PC moved $8,518,075 from a trust account to its own account – precisely the same amount courts had ordered Mr. Rath repay Tallcree’s trust, the documents say.
BMO also found that on June 26, 2026 – the day of the urgent-chambers hearing that saw Mr. Rath removed as trustee – Rath PC wired $106,000 to an unknown source.
“Altogether, approximately two thirds of the value of the trust assets have been dissipated by Rath and Rath PC since 2024,” says Chief Meneen’s court application.
In his decision, Justice Marion said he believed that there was reason to believe Mr. Rath’s assets will be “dissipated or removed” before any judgment in the proceeding is awarded.
Mr. Rath will be allowed to spend up to $10,000 until Wednesday’s hearing to cover living expenses, along with $100,000 for legal fees, the judge wrote.
The Mareva order will be reviewed by another judge this Wednesday. Counsel for Mr. Rath is expected to deliver responding evidence by Tuesday.