Canadian auto parts magnate Frank Stronach found guilty of sexual assault
Attorneys in the News
Austrian-Canadian billionaire and automotive business founder Frank Stronach was found guilty Friday of sexual assault and indecent assault of two women decades ago.
Stronach, who is 93, had been accused of alleged incidents involving seven complainants and pleaded not guilty to 12 charges.
Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, who is overseeing the case, said the two women who brought those allegations were credible and careful witnesses and she believed their accounts of what happened all those years ago.
Outside court, Stronach's lawyer said they would take time to thoroughly review the decision but were satisfied he had been found not guilty on most of the charges.
"Mr. Stronach has been found guilty on the least serious offenses for two complainants who were not exposed in any way, he was not exposed … no one had their clothes off," Leora Shemesh said.
Despite the two findings of guilt, Shemesh said Stronach "really is a national treasure and should be treated as such, in my respectful opinion."
Stronach became one of Canada's wealthiest people by creating auto parts giant Magna in his garage in 1957. He also founded The Stronach Group, a company that specializes in horse racing.
Stronach resigned as Magna's chairman in 2011 and founded his own political party in his native Austria the following year.
His trial started in February, and by the time arguments wrapped up in April, prosecutors had withdrawn one charge and agreed Stronach should be found not guilty on four more. He was found guilty of two of the remaining charges Friday. The allegations spanned from the late 1970s to the 1990s.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for September.
Stronach faces a separate trial on similar charges in Newmarket, Ontario, which is set to take place in May.
Related listings
-
Estranged husband of former Scottish leader pleads guilty to embezzlement
Attorneys in the News 05/25/2026The estranged husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling more than 400,000 pounds ($540,000) from the Scottish National Party to fund a lavish lifestyle when he was its chief executive.Peter Murrell, 61, who...
-
Trump flexes executive power with unprecedented flouting of lower court rulings
Attorneys in the News 05/06/2026When a federal judge shot down a Trump administration policy of holding immigrants without bond last December, it seemed like a serious blow to the president's mass deportation effort.Instead, a top Justice Department official insisted the ruling was...
-
US families contest Italian law restricting citizenship by descent in court
Attorneys in the News 04/16/2026Two U.S. families went to Italy's highest court Tuesday to challenge the scope of a year-old law passed by Giorgia Meloni's government limiting citizenship claims to Italian descendants removed by more than two generations.Their lawyer, Marco Mellone...