Frank Stronach Convicted on Sex Assault Charges Connected to 2 Women

Canadian business mogul Frank Stronach has been convicted of sexual assault and indecent assault stemming from accusations made by several women decades ago.

The 93-year-old Stronach had pleaded not guilty to 12 charges related to alleged incidents involving seven complainants.

The trial began in Toronto in February and arguments wrapped up in April. Prosecutors withdrew one charge and agreed Stronach should be acquitted on four others over the course of the trial.

Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy also said she couldn’t convict Stronach based on the testimony of one of the remaining complainants, finding the woman’s account unreliable.

That left Stronach facing five charges involving three complainants.

One of the three women was a former employee at Rooney’s, a popular Toronto-area nightclub and restaurant owned by Stronach in the 1970s and 1980s. The other two women said they first met him at that location.

Molloy found him guilty on two charges involving two complainants. He was convicted of sexual assault against the former employee and indecent assault against a woman who visited Rooney’s in the 1970s.

Testimonies

The former employee told the court she accepted an invitation to dinner with Stronach one night in the early 1980s after she reached out to him for clarification about her termination from Rooney’s.

She testified that Stronach seemed like a “fatherly mentor” during dinner but she began to feel uneasy when he invited her to visit his nearby condo. She said she went with him to his home but her heart began to pound after entering the unit and she insisted on leaving.

As Stronach helped her put on her coat, he began groping her body, she testified.

The woman said she left but later received a call inviting her for a job interview at Magna International, a company Stronach established in the 1950s. She ultimately spent several years working at the company, but had no direct interactions with Stronach, she added.

The woman who accused Stronach of indecent assault told the court she was a frequent patron at Rooney’s in the late 1970s and had often seen him there.

On a night in 1977, they dined on lobster at the restaurant, then Stronach invited her to his apartment, she said.

Stronach vanished for several minutes after they entered the apartment but then the woman felt a sudden push that caused her to sprawl over the arm of an armchair, she testified. She said Stronach raised her skirt and she felt him pressing himself against her underwear as if he were attempting to penetrate them.

The woman said she was able to free herself by standing up and then she collected her coat and purse and left his apartment. She said she didn’t recall anyone speaking.

Stronach’s sentencing hearing is set for September.

He is also facing another trial concerning similar allegations in Newmarket, Ont., which is set for next May.

Stronach is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ont., Granite Real Estate, and the Stronach Group, a gambling and horse racing company.

Stronach was worth roughly $1.5 billion in March 2018, but has since fallen off the Forbes billionaires list. His daughter is former Tory MP Belinda Stronach.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.