An Ontario judge has found Frank Stronach guilty of indecent assault and sexual assault involving two women in his high-profile trial, though other charges against the Canadian businessman did not end in convictions.
Stronach is the founder and former head of Magna International, a major Canadian company that makes auto parts.
He was charged with 18 offences involving 12 complainants by Peel Regional Police in 2024. Those charges were split into two trials and related to alleged incidents of sexual assault spanning the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.
Stronach, 93, pleaded not guilty to 12 charges related to seven complainants that were heard in Toronto beginning early in 2026.
As the trial progressed, prosecutors withdrew five of the charges, related to three of the women.
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Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, who is presiding over the case, then said she “couldn’t possibly” convict the businessman based on the evidence of one of the remaining complainants, whose testimony she deemed unreliable.
That left Stronach with five charges related to three complainants.
On Friday morning, Molloy found the billionaire guilty of one count of indecent assault and another of sexual assault. The two charges relate to two different women.
“I am finding Mr. Stronach guilty of two counts and not guilty on all the rest,” Molloy told the court at the beginning of her decision.
The indecent assault guilty decision relates to a legal secretary in 1977, and the sexual assault involved a waitress and took place in the 1980s.
“This was a long and emotionally charged trial,” Molloy said at the end of her decision, thanking the legal teams involved for their work.
Stronach will be sentenced in September.
The billionaire, who was born in Austria, rose to prominence and wealth after creating Magna in a rented garage in the 1950s, eventually turning it into a multinational conglomerate.
He has been seen as a landmark Canadian business success story, having started one of the largest companies in the country, one which features in the Fortune Global 500 list every year for more than two decades.
He will also face trial on other charges in Newmarket, Ont., next year.
— with files from Global News’ Catherine McDonald and The Canadian Press
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