Frank Stronach, the 91-year-old billionaire founder of one of the world’s largest auto parts companies, was arrested and charged Friday in an alleged sexual assault investigation.
Police in Peel Region, a suburb of Toronto, said in a brief news release that Stronak’s alleged crimes spanned from the 1980s to last year.
Stronach, the Austrian-born founder of Magna International, was charged with indecent assault, sexual assault and forced confinement. He was charged and released and will appear in a Brampton, Ont., court at a later date.
Stronak’s attorney, Brian Greenspan, said his client “categorically denies the allegations of misconduct” made against him.
“He looks forward to the opportunity to fully respond to the allegations and uphold his legacy as a philanthropist and Canadian business icon,” he added.
Mr. Stronach transformed a one-man machine shop he founded in 1957 into a global enterprise. Under his management, Magna also assembled vehicles for several automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, and attempted to acquire Chrysler and General Motors’ European unit Opel.
Magna investors have often expressed concern about how Mr. Stronak has used his control of the company, through special classes of shares, to engage in a variety of unrelated and sometimes unprofitable ventures unrelated to auto parts manufacturing. Businesses were outraged, including a failing restaurant chain, a glossy business magazine, a golf course. In 2010, Magna offered Mr. Stronak about $1 billion to relinquish control.
The Stronach Group he founded, now run by his daughter Belinda Stronach, owns or manages racetracks across the United States.
In 2013, Team Stronach, the pro-business protest party founded by Mr. Stronach, won two seats in the Austrian state parliament.
Magna spokesperson Tracy Fuerst said in a statement that “Magna has no knowledge of the investigation or the charges filed, other than as reported in the media.”
Stronach Group did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s unclear why the charges were made in Peel Region, which is part of the Greater Toronto Metropolitan Area. Mr. Stronak lives in York, which is also in the Toronto area and is where Magna is headquartered. Police spokesman Officer Tyler Bell declined to comment on the investigation.
While Stronach led Magna and was at one point Canada’s highest-paid executive, he often offered unconventional economic and political theories or comments that some considered inappropriate. At the company’s 2007 annual meeting, instead of discussing the Chrysler acquisition, he asked shareholders who was more attractive to women: himself or his longtime aide, Manfred Gingl.
Stronak is the second Canadian billionaire to be charged with sex crimes in just over a week. Montreal police have charged Future Electronics founder Robert G. Miller with 21 sex-related charges, including several counts of sexual exploitation of minors. Police said he paid several young girls to perform sex acts.
