Billionaire businessman Frank Stronach stands charged with sexually assaulting seven additional complainants from 1977 to as recently as February, court documents filed Friday show, bringing the total number of accusers in his case to 10.
The 91-year-old Stronach, who was first charged in early June with five sex-related offences involving three complainants, was faced with eight additional charges this week after Peel Regional Police said they had identified more victims.
Court documents filed in a Brampton, Ont., courthouse shed more light on the latest charges, which stem from incidents that allegedly occurred in Toronto, its surrounding areas and elsewhere in Ontario.
Stronach is accused of attempted rape and indecent assault on a woman between June 1977 and January 1978, and six other sexual assaults that allegedly occurred in the 1980s, 1990s, early 2000s and this year, the documents show.
The five previously filed charges against the founder of auto parts giant Magna involve allegations dating from the 1980s to 2023.
Stronach’s lawyer Brian Greenspan has said that his client denies all allegations against him and plans to “vigorously” defend his reputation.
“He has spent his lifetime committed to the betterment of the Canadian community and industry,” Greenspan wrote in a statement this week, saying Stronach plans to continue his advocacy work.
Stronach is scheduled to appear at the Brampton courthouse on July 8.
Stronach, who was born in Austria, became one of Canada’s wealthiest people by creating Magna in his garage in 1957 and building it into one of the world’s largest suppliers of auto parts.
He also founded The Stronach Group, a company that specializes in horse racing, and founded Stronach International in 2018, a company focusing on organic foods and “micro-electric mobility.”
Stronach resigned as Magna’s chairman in 2011 and founded his own political party in his native Austria the following year.
He is the father of former Canadian politician Belinda Stronach, who served as a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party before famously crossing the floor of the House of Commons to join the Liberals.
In 2018, Frank Stronach sued his daughter, two grandchildren and a former business associate for more than $500 million in Ontario Superior Court, alleging they mismanaged the family’s assets and conspired to take control of them. The lawsuit was settled in 2020 with a deal that split the family fortune across two factions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2024.
Sonja Puzic, The Canadian Press