Former Student Recalls Sexual Advances From Frank Stronach

A former student and scholarship recipient at the company once led by Frank Stronach is speaking out about an “unwelcome but not illegal” sexual interaction with the billionaire in the 1980s, when he was in his 50s and she was 19.

Jane Boon told CTV News Toronto in an interview how she was initially flattered by the attention the auto parts magnate gave her, but then felt “outdone” by him when she ended up spending the night with him at a guest house run by the company, Magna International.

“It was outrageous,” Boon recalled in an interview Monday. “54-year-old CEOs should not be insulting 19-year-old students in their employ.”

Boon said she shared what happened with close friends at the time, but she didn’t do so publicly because she was afraid she would lose a scholarship that could boost her career.

“I knew that by saying something I would essentially lose two years of my life. What happened was unwelcome. But it didn’t seem illegal,” Boon said.

Other alleged sex acts involving Stronach, now 91, have resulted in 13 criminal charges against 10 women, dating from the late 1970s to February of this year.

Magna has said it has no knowledge of the events.

Stronach’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said in a statement: “In many free and democratic societies, the identities of both the accuser and the accused are protected when police bring charges against a citizen. This is not the case in Canada.

“Frank Stronach, like all Canadians, values ​​the time-tested legal principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Unlike most Canadians, however, he faces the reputational damage that comes with constant media attention. While he is pleased by the outpouring of support he has received, we ask the public to respect the fundamental principle that Mr. Stronach remains innocent of any wrongdoing and that he will respond to the charges in a fair and open court,” the statement said.

Stronach’s statement did not address Boon’s story. She said she was the only woman selected by Magna for the fellowship at GMI, now Kettering University, in Flint, Mich., a fellowship worth about $250,000.

Stronach invited her to his office and encouraged her to pursue her career, she said.

She recalled that he also invited her to Magna’s annual shareholders meeting at Roy Thompson Hall in 1986, and then to an afterparty at Rooney’s, his Toronto restaurant.

“I was into it. And so flattered by the attention. Then things got weird,” she said. Stronach danced with her and fed her strawberries, she said.

“Stronach tells the driver that I’ve had too much to drink. That I’m not fit to drive back to Guelph. And that he’s going to drive me to the boarding house,” she said.

The guest house was located in Magna-managed Simeon Park, which is described on Magna’s website as a facility “established to provide an environment for peaceful and natural experiences for Magna employees and their invited guests.” The materials state that the park closes at 8 p.m.

“There was a delay where everything in my head clicked into place. I thought, ‘Oh boy. I just did something really stupid. I think I have to sleep with him now,'” she said.

Boon said that as soon as she heard about the charges this year, she called Peel Regional Police, who interviewed her. She said she felt she was treated very well and encourages others who may have information to contact them and continue their investigation.

Boon said she has a lot of questions about what, if anything, Magna employees knew about what their CEO might have been up to. And as an engineer, she says people should ask whether Magna had systems in place to steer women toward him.

“I have no idea if anyone else (consciously or unconsciously) participated in the plan. I was in a huge restaurant. Hundreds of people. No one said anything,” she said.

The experience left her with a hatred for technology, she said. She is now a writer.