Three more women have come forward to allege historical sex offences against embattled billionaire Frank Stronach, CBC News has learned.
Stronach is facing four new charges, including rape and indecent assault. The charges stem from alleged incidents in Toronto in 1981 and 1983 and in the nearby hamlet of Gormley, Ont., in 1993, according to information shared by a clerk at a Brampton courthouse on Wednesday.
In all, 13 women have told police that Stronach, now 92, assaulted them. He faces a total of 17 criminal charges, including sexual assault and forcible confinement.
The earliest allegations against the Magna International founder date back to 1977, while the most recent assault is alleged to have occurred this past February.
Stronach’s case is scheduled to return to the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton next Monday.
Stronach was first arrested in June by police from Peel Region, west of Toronto. He was ordered to hand over his passport and to not have contact with any of the complainants.
At the time, Peel police asked anyone with relevant information about the case to come forward.
The Austrian-born business magnate has denied wrongdoing and suggested his accusers are motivated by money.
“We have a lot of data which totally will prove those things are lies,” Stronach said in an interview with CBC’s The Fifth Estate in August. “But I feel sorry for the women that made those charges.”
His lawyer, Leora Shemesh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the new charges.
A Peel Regional Police spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing court case.
WARNING: Video contains distressing details | As a woman accusing Frank Stronach of rape publicly details her allegations, the billionaire businessman speaks for the first time to CBC’s The Fifth Estate. Stronach says he has nothing to hide and that his accusers are after his money.
Stronach, a resident of Aurora, north of Toronto, is a member of the Order of Canada, the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and the Michigan-based Automotive Hall of Fame. In 2018, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth to be $1.5 billion US.
He initially made his fortune from Magna, the Ontario-based auto parts manufacturer he founded in 1957. He later spun off subsidiaries specializing in horse racing and entertainment that now fall under the Stronach Group. He is no longer directly involved in either firm.
A judge recently denied a request to compel the Stronach Group’s CEO, Belinda Stronach, and others to disclose documents related to any sexual misconduct complaints levelled at the company’s founder.
The motion had been brought by Stronach’s granddaughter Selena, whose lawyers alleged that business records likely illustrate a pattern of wrongdoing and corporate cover-ups.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Osborne dismissed Selena’s motion in August, finding there is “simply no evidence in the record that the requested documents exist.”
