Billionaire Charged in Sex Attacks That Span 50 Years

When Canadian police announced on June 8 that auto parts billionaire Frank Stronach was facing sexual assault charges related to encounters with three women, they issued a plea for other possible victims to come forward. Within hours, one did, CBC News reported Wednesday as Ontario's Peel Regional Police announced eight new charges against the 91-year-old founder of Magna International. Stronach was initially charged with rape and indecent assault stemming from a July 1980 encounter with a woman in Toronto; sexual assault and forcible confinement related to a February 1986 encounter with another woman in Toronto; and sexual assault tied to an April 2023 encounter with a third woman in Aurora, 30 miles north of Toronto.

First arrested June 7, Stronach was nabbed again Wednesday on six new charges of sexual assault, one count of attempted rape, and one count of indecent assault on a female, per the Canadian Press. While police released few details on the new charges, PRP Constable Tyler Bell-Morena said additional victims have been identified. "Mr. Stronach denies and will vigorously defend these further untested allegations dating back to 1977," Stronach's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said Wednesday, per the AP. He added his client, a member of the Order of Canada and the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, "spent his lifetime committed to the betterment of the Canadian community and industry."

In a statement, Magna International said Stronach parted ways with the company in 2010. The Stronach Group, a horse-racing company that was founded by Stronach and is now run by his daughter, said the billionaire hadn't been involved with the company for years. Stronach International, another company Stronach founded with a focus on organic foods and zero-emission transportation, did not respond to a request for comment, per the CBC. Police declined to say how many additional victims were identified. One alleged victim contacted police hours after the June 8 press conference where the initial charges against Stronach were announced, though "it's not clear whether the person's account formed the basis for any of the new charges," per the CBC. (More Canada stories.)