A Toronto court delivered a guilty verdict Friday against Frank Stronach, the 93-year-old Austrian-Canadian billionaire who founded one of the world’s largest auto parts companies, convicting him of sexual assault and indecent assault against two women in incidents that took place decades ago.
Stronach had originally faced 12 charges stemming from allegations made by seven different complainants, and he entered a not guilty plea to all of them.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy handed down the guilty findings on two of those charges, each related to a separate complainant.
Stronach built his fortune by launching auto parts giant Magna out of his garage in 1957, eventually becoming one of Canada’s wealthiest individuals. He later founded The Stronach Group, a business focused on horse racing.
He stepped down as Magna’s chairman in 2011, and the following year launched a political party in his home country of Austria.
The trial got underway in February. By the time closing arguments concluded in April, prosecutors had dropped one charge entirely and agreed Stronach should be acquitted on four others. Friday’s verdict found him guilty on two of the charges that remained.
