Canada billionaire Stronach faces sexual assault allegations
FILE PHOTO: Frank Stronach poses The Inaugural $12 Million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, The World’s Richest Thoroughbred Horse Race At Gulfstream Park at Gulfstream Park on January 28, 2017 in Hallandale, Florida. Stronach is being accused of sexual assault by 10 women, according to court documents released Friday, June 28, 2024. Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for The Stronach Group/AFP (Photo by Gustavo Caballero / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
OTTAWA, Canada — Ten women have come forward with sexual assault accusations against Canadian auto parts magnate Frank Stronach, according to court documents released Friday.
The 91-year-old was arrested twice in recent weeks and charged with 13 criminal counts including attempted rape, sexual assault, indecent assault, and forcible confinement.
Both times – including on Wednesday – he was released the same day with conditions ahead of a first court appearance scheduled for July 8.
The court documents describe allegations of attempted rape and assault as far back as June 1977 in Toronto.
READ: Vatican closes sexual assault probe into Canadian cardinal
Article continues after this advertisementOther victims accused him of rape or sexual assaults in 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1999 in Toronto, and from 1999 to 2003 in Aurora, Ontario where his former company, Magna International, is headquartered.
Article continues after this advertisementThe most recent sexual assaults are alleged to have taken place in April 2023 in Aurora, north of Toronto, and February this year in the nearby hamlet of Gormley.
Three women had come forward initially with accusations, followed by seven more after police announced the first round of charges in early June.
READ: Rape declines, but numbers don’t tell the story: Sexual violence still pervasive
Stronach, through his lawyer Brian Greenspan, has said he “denies and will vigorously defend” himself against the untested accusations in court.
The Austrian-born rags-to-riches immigrant grew a small Canadian tool and die company into one of the world’s largest automotive parts manufacturers, Magna International.
At age 80, Stronach ceded control of the company and returned to his native Austria to run for public office, but returned to Canada a few years later after support dissipated.
