By The Canadian Press

Defence suggests woman regrets engaging in sexual encounter with Frank Stronach

Feb 20, 2026 | 2:00 AM

TORONTO — A defence lawyer for Frank Stronach is suggesting one of his accusers regrets engaging in a sexual encounter with the billionaire businessman in the early 1980s.

Leora Shemesh suggested in cross-examination that the woman, who is the fourth complainant to testify in the case, does in fact remember how things happened that night but is claiming to have memory gaps because she is embarrassed.

The woman twice rejected the suggestion, saying it was “not true.”

Several legal issues have arisen during the complainant’s testimony, centring largely on her interactions with Crown prosecutor Jelena Vlacic.

On Friday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy urged Vlacic to “reflect on” why she didn’t do anything when the woman lied on the stand during examination-in-chief a day earlier.

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Earlier Friday, the complainant apologized to the court for testifying that she had not read an op-ep written by a woman suing Stronach over alleged sexual misconduct when she had in fact read the piece and discussed it “quite at length” with the Crown.

“You knew she was not telling the truth and you did nothing. You need to reflect on that,” Molloy told Vlacic before the lunch break.

“It’s not what I expect of the Crown when a witness is obviously lying and you take no steps to correct the record.”

Stronach, who is 93, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges stemming from alleged incidents involving seven complainants and dating back as far as the 1970s.

None of the complainants can be identified under a standard publication ban. All are expected to testify in the trial, which began last week after some delay.

The case faced another hurdle on Thursday, with the court taking two unplanned pauses to deal with legal issues that emerged after the woman repeatedly referred to her preparatory meetings with the prosecution while laying out her account of her encounter with Stronach.

She said the Crown had pointed to an element of her police statement that could be seen as an “omission,” and in another instance, told her she had given “inconsistent statements” on her demeanour during the incident.

Shemesh, the defence lawyer, has previously indicated she will seek a stay of proceedings over allegations that some of the complainants were coached by the Crown ahead of the trial.

On Thursday, she pressed the woman on what was said during a January meeting, and the woman maintained that the Crown never advised her on how to give her evidence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2026.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press