Posted on: June 10, 2024, 07:29h.
Last updated on: June 10, 2024, 07:29h.
Austrian Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach has been arrested and charged in Canada with sexual assault.
Ontario’s Peel regional police said in a statement the 91-year-old horse racing and auto-parts magnate was detained Friday and charged with rape, indecent assault on a female, sexual assault, and forcible confinement.
The charges relate to incidents that are alleged to have occurred from the 1980s to as recently as 2023, police said. Constable Tyler Bell told reporters that there was more than one alleged victim but declined to say exactly how many.
Obviously, this is a high-profile case,” Bell said. “Our special Victims Unit is bound to protect the victims and in doing so – that’s why we’re being vague.”
Stronach’s lawyer said in a statement that his client “categorically denies the allegations of impropriety which have been brought against him.”
Racing Empire
Stronach is the founder and former chairman of the Stronach Group, which owns thoroughbred racetracks, training centers, and simulcast operations across the US.
Assets include California’s Santa Anita racetrack and Golden Gate Fields, which coincidentally closed yesterday. Gulfstream Park in Florida, the Pimlico Racecourse (home of the Preakness Stakes), the Laurel Racecourse, and Rosecroft Raceway, all in Maryland, are also Stronach properties.
Stronach has had little to do with the management of the Stronach Group in recent years. His daughter, Belinda Stronach, is the current chairman, CEO, and president of the company, which now trades as 1/ST.
Worth Billions
Austrian-born Stronach built up a machine shop he founded in 1957 into a global auto-parts business, Magna International, which once made a takeover bid for Chrysler, as well as Opel, the European arm of General Motors. Today, it’s one of the largest companies in Canada and the biggest auto-parts manufacturer in North America.
In 2017, Stronach had an estimated net worth of C$3.06 billion (US$2.2 billion), according to Canadian Business.
Stronach has also dabbled in Austrian politics as an advocate of unfettered free-market liberalism.
Both Magna and the Stronach Group have declined to comment on the charges.
Released on Bail
Meanwhile, the police are appealing to members of the public to come forward if they have any relevant information.
Stronach has been released on bail and will appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton at a later date.
His lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said Stronach looked “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.”
