Frank Stronach speaks at his final AGM as Magna chairman in Markham, Ont. on May 4, 2011.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Frank Stronach, the billionaire businessman charged with sexually assaulting 10 complainants, has broken his silence in an interview with CBC’s The Fifth Estate.
In clips aired by the CBC, the 91-year-old claims his accusers are pursuing the cases against him to take his money.
The Fifth Estate also broadcast clips of an interview with one of the 10 complainants, who alleges she was raped by Mr. Stronach in 1980, when she was 20 years old and worked as a horse groomer at one of his stables.
Mr. Stronach was initially charged in June with five sex-related offences involving three complainants, then followed by another eight charges involving seven complainants.
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Court documents show the charges include rape, attempted rape, indecent assault, forcible confinement and sexual assault, and relate to alleged incidents dating as far back as 1977 and as recently as this year.
In the CBC interview, Mr. Stronach claims the state of the economy might have motivated his accusers to pursue the cases against him.
“It’s poverty – what the problem is,” he said.
The woman interviewed by the CBC, who concealed her identity, alleges she was raped by Mr. Stronach and says he “took away my fire.”
“I had let it fester for a really long time,” she said.
Mr. Stronach became one of Canada’s wealthiest people as the founder of auto parts giant Magna.