Frank Stronach’s sexual assault trial hits hurdle as fourth complainant testifies

By Canadian Press on February 19, 2026.

TORONTO — The sexual assault trial of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach hit another hurdle today as one of his accusers repeatedly referred to her preparatory meetings with the prosecution while testifying about what she called a “degrading” and horrifying incident in the early 1980s.

The woman, who is the fourth complainant to take the stand at Stronach’s Toronto trial, was giving her account of what happened after she went to the auto parts tycoon’s harbourfront condo when the issue first emerged.

The complainant noted that she previously told police she couldn’t remember how she went from the living room window to the bedroom, and that the Crown currently examining her had characterized that as a possible “omission” during a preparatory meeting.

Court took an hour-long break to allow lawyers to confer on the matter, but the issue resurfaced almost immediately after the woman resumed her testimony.

The woman mentioned the Crown told her she had given “inconsistent statements” on her demeanour during the incident, prompting the judge to stop the proceedings and call for another break.

Stronach’s lawyer, Leora Shemesh, has previously indicated she would seek a stay of proceedings over allegations some of the complainants may have been coached by prosecutors in preparation for the trial.

Concerns arose after the defence received a voluminous quantity of materials “at the 11th hour,” including new statements from the complainants, she said at the time. Shemesh asked for time to deal with the materials, and the start of the trial was delayed by more than a week.

Stronach, who is 93, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges related to seven complainants. The charges stem from alleged incidents dating back as far as the 1970s.

On the stand Thursday, the woman said she had a summer job at Magna International, the company Stronach founded, in 1982. At the end of the summer, Stronach invited her to dinner, she said.

“I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know him very well but I saw it as a sort of … friendly thing to do at the end of the summer,” she said.

Though not a big drinker, the woman said she had gin and tonics with dinner, enough to get her drunk but not to the point of stumbling. She couldn’t recall if Stronach drank or what was discussed but said there was nothing that “gave off red flags.”

At some point, Stronach asked if she wanted to see the view from his apartment, which made her “quite uncomfortable,” she said. Still, she couldn’t think of a legitimate reason to refuse, so they took the elevator to the apartment, which was above the restaurant, she said.

The woman said she went to the window to look at the view, since that was ostensibly the reason for coming.

Stronach disappeared briefly, then suddenly he was behind her with his arms around her, fondling her breasts, she said. She was “horrified,” she said.

“This was someone who I trusted … I just thought this can’t be real,” she told the court.

Neither of them said anything, she testified.

She ended up in the bedroom, face down on the bed, the woman said. She has no recollection of how she got there, something she attributed to the pain of knowing she had done nothing to save herself and had gone along “like a lamb to the slaughter.”

The woman couldn’t see Stronach but she could feel his penis penetrating her, she said. He had pulled down her trousers to some degree and must have pulled down her underwear as well, she said.

“I just felt powerless, it was degrading,” she said.

The woman noted that’s what she eventually told police in her statement, but she sent them a message afterward saying that she was crying.

The proceeding was paused for a second time when the woman mentioned that the Crown later told her she had given inconsistent statements on this point. Court is expected to resume later this afternoon.

On Wednesday, the court heard from a woman who says she grew to know and trust Stronach through the popular restaurant and nightclub complex he owned.

She testified that after having dinner with Stronach at the restaurant in the fall of 1977, he invited her to see his midtown apartment.

That’s when the woman, now in her 70s, says he pushed her over the arm of a chair and tried to rape her — an act she describes as a “betrayal.”

Two other complainants, both women in their 60s, testified earlier in the trial about alleged incidents that took place in the early 1980s.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press