Automotive billionaire Frank Stronach, 91, is arrested again on eight new sexual assault and rape charges as investigators claim they 'have identified additional victims'

Automotive billionaire Frank Stronach, 91, has been arrested once again, and is now facing even more sexual assault and rape charges.

Stronach, the founder of auto-parts giant Magna, was accused earlier this month of sexually assaulting victims beginning in the 1980s and lasting up until 2023.

He was then charged with five criminal offenses, including rape, sexual assault, indecent assault on a female, and forcible confinement.

But on Wednesday, Peel Regional Police said they 'have identified additional victims' and charged him with eight more counts of sexual assault. 

Those include six counts of sexual assault, one count attempted rape and one count of indecent assault on a female, the Toronto Star reports.

Peel Regional Police Constable Tyler Bell previously noted that there were multiple accusers, but he declined to specify how large the number was.

'Obviously, this is a high-profile case. Our special victims unit is bound to protect the victims and in doing so that's why we're being vague,' Bell said.

'There is more than one victim but we won't confirm that number yet,' he added.

It remains unclear how many additional victims may have come forward to accuse Stronach of sexual assault since his arrest on June 7.

But one alleged victim is said to have reached out to police within hours of the first charges being announced, a source familiar with the investigation told the CBC. 

Another woman, author Jane Boon, also claimed in an op-ed that Stronach had sex with her when she was just 19 years old and he was 54.

She wrote that the Austrian-Canadian businessman interviewed her when she was a high school student and selected her for a scholarship to GMI - now Kettering University - in Flint, Michigan to study engineering.

While in school in 1986, she claimed she attended Magna's annual shareholders meeting and was invited to an afterparty at Stronach's Toronto restaurant, Rooney's.

Towards the end of the dinner, Boon said Stronach insisted on driving her to Magna's corporate guest house in Ontario, and they had sex.

Boon has not complained to cops about the incident, according to the Globe and Mail, but said she is now feeling uneasy about the encounter.

'At the time, I thought it was consensual,' she wrote. 'But if it wasn't rape, it certainly wasn't right.' 

Stronach was due to appear in Ontario court on July 8 prior to the new charges being levied against him. It is unclear whether that court date will still stand. 

In the meantime, his lawyer, Brian Greenspan - whose previous notable clients included Naomi Campbell and Justin Bieber - says the auto parts magnate denies the allegations 'and will vigorously defend these further untested allegations dating back to 1977.'

He noted that Stronach 'has spent his lifetime committed to the betterment of the Canadian community and industry' and said he now 'plans to continue to devote his energy and resources to his work advocating for the adoption of a Canadian Economic Charter of Rights to benefit workers, small businesses, family farmers and the Canadian economy.'

Born in Austria in 1932, Stronach grew up under Nazi rule before moving to Canada in the mid-50s.

In 1957, the entrepreneur launched Magna in his garage, and over the years, he built it into one of the world's biggest suppliers of auto parts.  

The company now has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion.

But in a statement, a spokesperson for the company noted that 'Stronach has had no affiliation with Magna since he relinquished control in 2010.'

He added that executives at the company had 'no knowledge of the investigation or the allegations that have been raised beyond what has been reported in the media.'

Some of the entrepreneur's other business ventures included the creation of The Stronach Group, a company that specializes in horse racing. 

In 2013, the auto-parts tycoon returned to Austria, where he dabbled in politics by founding and leading a populist right-wing political party called Team Stronach for Austria. 

Two months later, Stronach moved back to Canada, where he named to the Order of Canada, one of the nation's most prestigious distinctions. 

In 2018, the billionaire sued his daughter Belinda, two grandchildren, and former business associate Alon Ossip for over $500 million in Ontario Superior Court. 

Stronach alleged that they had mismanaged the family's assets, of which he wished to regain control. 

Belinda, a former Canadian Member of Parliament and CEO of Magna, countersued her father, saying that he had lost an enormous amount of money on pet projects. 

The case was eventually settled. Stronach's wife Elfriede passed away aged 80 in March this year after battling illness.