An Ontario judge will deliver her decision on the charges of sexual assault laid against Canadian businessman Frank Stronach on Friday, marking the end of a high-profile case.

Stronach is the founder and former head of Magna International, a major Canadian company that makes auto parts.

He has been seen as a landmark Canadian business success story, having started one of the largest companies in the country, one which features in the Fortune Global 500 list every year for more than two decades.

In 2024, Peel Regional Police charged Stronach with 18 offences involving 13 complainants, which were split across two trials.

The charges relate to alleged incidents of sexual assault spanning the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

Stronach, who is 93, pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges, related to seven complainants.

As the Toronto trial progressed in the winter and spring, prosecutors withdrew five charges related to three of the women, leaving Stronach with seven charges related to four women.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, who is presiding over the case, said she “couldn’t possibly” convict the businessman based on the evidence of one of the remaining complainants, whose testimony she deemed unreliable.

Two of the charges are related to that complainant, who alleged Stronach raped her in the early 1980s.

He will also face trial on other charges in Newmarket, Ont., next year.

Stronach, who was born in Austria, rose to prominence and wealth after creating Magna in a rented garage in the 1950s, eventually turning it into a multinational conglomerate.

He also founded the Stronach Group, a company that specializes in horse racing, and later Stronach International in 2018, a company focusing on organic foods and “micro-electric mobility.”

The judge presiding over the trial is expected to deliver her verdict on Friday morning.

— with files from The Canadian Press