91-year-old billionaire arrested and charged with sexually abusing several women

• Frank Stronach was arrested on Friday and charged with five criminal offenses

A 91-year-old billionaire was arrested Friday on decades-old sexual assault charges.

Frank Stronach, who once ran a massive auto parts empire, was charged with five crimes, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse of a woman and false imprisonment.

Peel Regional Police said the alleged sexual assaults continued from the 1980s to 2023.

The Austrian-Canadian businessman was arrested in the upscale Toronto suburb of Aurora and released on bail.

According to a police statement, Stronach will appear at a later date in Ontario Court Justice in Brampton.

Peel Regional Police said the alleged sexual assaults spanned a period from the 1980s to 2023.

Peel Regional Police Officer Tyler Bell confirmed there were multiple accusers but declined to provide an exact number.

“This is obviously a case that is attracting a lot of attention. Our special victims unit is obliged to protect the victims and that is why we remain vague,” Bell said.

“There is more than one victim, but we cannot confirm the number yet,” he added.

To lead his defense team, Stronach has hired renowned attorney Brian Greenspan, whose well-known clients have included former Naomi Campbell and Justin Bieber.

In a statement, Greenspan said the 91-year-old billionaire “categorically denies” all allegations against him.

Greenspan continued, “He looks forward to the opportunity to fully respond to the allegations and to uphold his legacy as a philanthropist and icon of Canadian business.”

Stronach was born in Austria in 1932 and grew up under Nazi rule before moving to Canada in the mid-1950s.

The entrepreneur founded Magna in his garage in 1957 and over the years built the company into one of the world’s largest auto parts suppliers.

Magna currently has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion.

The auto parts giant said in a statement that it had “no knowledge of the investigation or the allegations made beyond what has been reported in the media.”

They also pointed out that “Stronach has had no connection with Magna since he gave up control in 2010.”

The entrepreneur’s other business ventures include the founding of the Stronach Group, a company specializing in horse racing.

In 2013, the auto parts tycoon returned to Austria, where he became politically active by founding and leading a right-wing populist party called “Team Stronach for Austria”.

Two months later, Stronach returned to Canada, where he was inducted into the Order of Canada, one of the country’s most prestigious awards.

In 2018, the billionaire sued his daughter, two grandchildren and his former business partner Alon Ossip in Ontario Superior Court for over $500 million.

Stronach claimed they had mismanaged the family assets, over which he wanted to regain control.

Belinda Stronach, a former Canadian member of parliament and CEO of Magna, filed a countersuit against her father, claiming that he lost enormous amounts of money on pet projects.

The case was eventually settled.