Billionaire businessman Frank Stronach faces eight additional charges: police

Billionaire businessman Frank Stronach, charged earlier this month with sex crimes dating back decades, now faces eight additional charges, police announced Wednesday.

Peel Regional Police said the 91-year-old founder of auto parts giant Magna was re-arrested and charged with six counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted rape and one count of indecent assault on a woman. women.

They did not provide details about those charges, but said investigators “have identified additional victims.”

Stronach was first arrested in early June and charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault on a female, one count of forcible restraint and two counts of sexual assault.

Court documents related to the charges say he was accused of sexually assaulting three different plaintiffs in Toronto and Aurora, Ontario, in alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s.

Stronach’s attorney, Brian Greenspan, said Wednesday that his client denies “and will vigorously defend these other untested allegations dating back to 1977.”

Greenspan said Stronach plans to continue his advocacy work to benefit Canadian businesses and the economy.

“He spent his life dedicated to the betterment of the Canadian community and industry,” he wrote in a statement.

Before additional charges against him are laid, Stronach was scheduled to appear in court in Brampton, Ont., on July 8.

Stronach, who was born in Austria, became one of Canada’s richest men, creating Magna in his garage in 1957 and growing it into one of the largest auto parts suppliers in the world.

He also founded The Stronach Group, a company specializing in horse racing, and founded Stronach International in 2018, a company focusing on organic food and “micro-electric mobility”.

He resigned as chairman of Magna in 2011 and founded his own political party in Austria the following year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 26, 2024.

Sonja Puzic, Canadian Press