Auto billionaire Frank Stronach, 91, has been arrested again and now faces more charges of sexual assault and rape.
Stronach, the founder of auto parts giant Magna, was accused earlier this month of sexually abusing victims from the 1980s through 2023.
He was subsequently charged with five offences, including rape, sexual assault, indecent assault on a woman and forcible confinement.
But on Wednesday, Peel Regional Police said they had “identified further victims” and charged him with a further eight counts of sexual assault.
The charges include six counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted rape and one count of indecent assault on a woman. reports the Toronto Star.
Auto billionaire Frank Stronach, 91, has been arrested and charged with more counts of sexual assault and rape
Peel Regional Police Constable Tyler Bell previously noted there were multiple accusers, but declined to specify how large that number was.
‘It is clear that this is a high-profile case. Our Special Victims Unit has an obligation to protect the victims and that is why we are being vague,” Bell said.
“There is more than one victim, but we are not ready to confirm that number,” he added.
It remains unclear how many additional victims have come forward to accuse Stronach of sexual assault since his June 7 arrest.
But one alleged victim reportedly contacted police within hours of the first allegations being announced, a source familiar with the investigation said told the CBC.
Another woman, author Jane Boon, too claimed in an op-ed that Stronach had sex with her when she was only 19 years old and he was 54.
She wrote that the Austrian-Canadian businessman interviewed her when she was a high school student and selected her for a scholarship to GMI – now Kettering University – in Flint, Michigan to study engineering.
Frank in the photo with his daughter Belinda Stronach and his wife Elfriede, who passed away earlier this year
While in school in 1986, she claimed she attended Magna’s annual shareholder meeting and was invited to an after-party at Stronach’s Toronto restaurant, Rooney’s.
Near the end of the dinner, Boon said Stronach insisted on taking her to Magna’s business guesthouse in Ontario, and they had sex.
Boon has not filed a complaint with the police about the incidentaccording to the Globe and Mailbut said she now feels uncomfortable about the encounter.
“At the time I thought it was consensual,” she wrote. “But if it wasn’t rape, it certainly wasn’t right.”
Stronach was scheduled to appear in an Ontario court on July 8 before the new charges against him would be filed. It’s unclear if that court date still stands.
Meanwhile, his attorney Brian Greenspan (whose previous notable clients include Naomi Campbell and Justin Bieber) says the auto parts mogul denies the allegations “and will vigorously defend these further untested allegations dating back to 1977.”
He noted that Stronach “has been committed to the betterment of Canada’s community and industry throughout his life” and said he now “intends to continue devoting his energies and resources to his work advocating for the adoption of a Canadian Economic Charter of Rights to benefit workers, small businesses, family farmers and the Canadian economy.”
Stronach (pictured with the late queen) did
Stronach “has dedicated his life to the betterment of Canada’s community and industry,” his lawyer said
Stronach was born in Austria in 1932 and grew up under Nazi rule before moving to Canada in the mid-1950s.
In 1957, the entrepreneur launched Magna in his garage, and over the years he built it into one of the world’s largest automotive parts suppliers.
The company now has a market cap of $12.52 billion.
But in a statement, a company spokesman noted that “Stronach has had no ties to Magna since he relinquished control in 2010.”
He added that executives at the company had “no knowledge of the investigation or allegations raised beyond what has been reported in the media.”
Some of the entrepreneur’s other business ventures included founding The Stronach Group, a company specializing in horse racing.
In 2013, the auto parts magnate returned to Austria, where he dabbled in politics by founding and leading a populist right-wing political party called Team Stronach for Austria.
Two months later, Stronach moved back to Canada, where he was appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s most prestigious honors.
Belinda Stronach eventually went against her father, saying he had lost a huge amount of money on pet projects (pictured with his daughter Belinda)
In 2018, the billionaire sued his daughter Belinda, two grandchildren and former business partner Alon Ossip for more than $500 million in Ontario Superior Court.
Stronach claimed they had mismanaged the family’s assets, over which he wanted to regain control.
Belinda, a former Canadian MP and CEO of Magna, filed a countersuit against her father. She stated that he had lost enormous amounts of money on hobby projects.
The case was eventually settled. Stronach’s wife Elfriede died in March this year at the age of 80 after an illness.