Sexual-assault charges against Frank Stronach involve three women

Court documents released on Friday shed new light on the sexual-assault charges against former auto parts magnate Frank Stronach.

The charges stem from alleged incidents in 1980, 1986, and 2023, according to documents filed in connection with the case in Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton. The records show a different female complainant in each of those years.

Peel Regional Police on June 7 arrested and charged Mr. Stronach, 91, with five criminal counts, including rape, indecent assault on a female, forcible confinement, and two counts of sexual assault related to alleged incidents in Toronto, the Toronto region, Aurora, and elsewhere in Ontario.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Brampton on July 8. The allegations have not been proven.

Canadian businessman Frank Stronach arrested, charged with sexual assault

Brian Greenspan, Mr. Stronach’s defence lawyer, said his client “categorically denies the allegations of impropriety which have been brought against him. He looks forward to the opportunity to fully respond to the charges and to maintain his legacy, both as a philanthropist and as an icon of the Canadian business community.”

According to documents obtained from the court, Mr. Stronach must surrender his passport and not communicate with the alleged victims.

Peel police are asking anyone with information to contact them.

According to the court documents, Mr. Stronach is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the spring of 2023 in Aurora, the town north of Toronto where he resides and the company he founded, Magna International, is based.

Another victim was allegedly unlawfully confined and sexually assaulted in February, 1986. The third charge relates to an alleged attack in July, 1980, when police say Mr. Stronach had sex with a woman “without her consent.”

In the 1950s, Mr. Stronach moved to Toronto from Austria and founded the company that became Magna International. The company would become one of the world’s largest auto parts makers, and today employs 179,000 people in 28 countries.

He left the company 14 years ago and has “had no affiliation” with Magna since, spokesperson Tracy Fuerst said.

A year after leaving Magna, in 2011, Mr. Stronach entered Austrian politics.

Forbes magazine in 2018 estimated Mr. Stronach’s wealth at US$1.5-billion, but no longer includes him in its rankings.

Mr. Stronach and his daughter, Belinda Stronach, in 2020 settled a three-year legal battle over control of the family company, the Stronach Group, agreeing to split their real estate, horse racing and farming businesses.

Mr. Stronach was named in a wrongful dismissal suit in 2002 involving a 21-year-old student who worked as a bartender at the company’s golf club in Aurora.

According to Nicole Will’s statement of claim, which contains unproven allegations, Mr. Stronach invited her to play tennis with him, asked her for her phone number and called her parents’ house, where she lived, on two occasions. She said she felt pressure to give him her number, and experienced “stress, anxiety as well as unease,” knowing Mr. Stronach, the age of 70 at the time, was the boss and a frequent visitor to the club.

She endured ridicule from her colleagues, who called her “Mrs. Stronach,” and in a meeting with the club’s manager was made to feel she was to blame for the situation, according to court documents obtained by The Globe and Mail. She resigned and sued Mr. Stronach and MEC Holdings, the company he led, for $250,000. The two sides reached a confidential out-of-court settlement.

Ms. Will declined to be interviewed for this story.

In a statement of defence, Mr. Stronach and MEC Holdings denied inflicting “mental distress” on Ms. Will, and said she was not constructively dismissed. “Mr. Stronach is an avid tennis player and often plays with Magna employees,” the defence said.

Harry Kopyto, Ms. Will’s legal representative at the time, said the settlement amount was confidential, but “more than ample.”

“She was hurt and also had losses,” he said on Tuesday. “She was working for him. She lost income. She was ridiculed by her fellow workers. You know, it affected her ability to get money together.”

In an e-mail, Mr. Greenspan said, “This matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the parties more than twenty years ago.”