An Ontario judge’s looming decision on whether the Stronach Group should be forced to reveal evidence of possible sexual abuse cover-ups could add yet another dimension to a deepening scandal surrounding the billionaire multinational’s founder.

The civil trial also offers a look into the deep divisions at the heart of a family feud involving auto parts magnate Frank Stronach’s grown children and grandchildren.

According to at least one longtime observer, the conflict is reminiscent of the battles between another famous clan.

“There are many parallels to the fictional family in Sequence“, said Dimitry Anastakis, a professor and business historian at the University of Toronto.

The popular HBO drama series portrayed members of the mega-wealthy Roy family — usually in opulent surroundings — as they battled for control of a media conglomerate led by an aging patriarch.

Like Logan Roy’s fictional broken story, the Austrian-born Stronach built a successful business empire after immigrating to Canada. But the latest criminal charges threaten to consume the 91-year-old’s legacy.

In June, Peel Regional Police, near Toronto, laid 13 charges against Stronach, including sexual assault, rape and forcible confinement. The charges stem from alleged incidents involving 10 accusers, from 1977 to this past February.

In one interview with CBC Fifth estate earlier this week, Stronach denied wrongdoing. He said he would prove the criminal allegations amounted to “lies” and suggested the complainants were motivated by money.

Yet the accusations – and media reports suggests corporate assets may have helped facilitate sexual abuse — prompted one of Stronach’s granddaughters, Selena Stronach, to search for answers.

Grandchildren take on the Stronach Group

Already locked in a long-running legal battle over family wealth, lawyers for 23-year-old Selena filed a new motion, arguing that “it is likely that there are records that reveal a pattern of misconduct by Mr. Stronach that includes corporate knowledge and , potentially facilitating and covering up .”

Frank Stronach initially made a fortune at Magna International, the auto parts manufacturer he started in 1957. He later divested subsidiaries specializing in horse racing and entertainment that now fall under the Stronach Group. Frank Stronach is no longer directly involved in any of the companies.

Selena Stronach’s lawyers recently asked a judge to order Stronach Group executives, including her aunt, Belinda, to turn over all documents — such as nondisclosure agreements and payment records — related to sexual misconduct complaints against Frank Stronach.

The motion is part of a broader civil suit brought by Selena and her father, Andrew Stronach, who allege Belinda and others have mismanaged the family fortune. The case is scheduled to go to trial next month.

Anastakis, the business historian, said the lawsuit is about more than the family’s multibillion-dollar fortune.

“I think it’s as much about legacy issues as financial futures and fortunes,” he said, adding that the second- and third-generation Stronachs are likely keen to distance themselves from the patriarch’s tarnished reputation.

Accounts describing the youngest Stronach’s lifestyle vary.

As of 2021, Selena shared a 15,000-square-foot home in Aurora, Ont., north of Toronto, with her mother, Kathleen, on the Stronach farm, where Selena also raised cattle. According to court documents, she accused Belinda of cutting off funding for renovations, leaving the home with incomplete plumbing, loose wiring and unfinished walls and without “a functional kitchen for years.”

Belinda Stronach’s lawyers called the description of Selena’s accommodation “absurd”. They said the young woman had used a family trust to buy a luxury home in Vancouver when she was 19.

According to a 2019 article in Toronto Life magazineSelena’s lawyers once acknowledged that she was “raised in an environment where no event, experience, consumer purchase or travel has been denied.”

Court documents indicate that Andrew Stronach “owns over 100 properties” in Canada and the United States.

Stronachs lets lawyers talk in court

On Thursday, at least 14 lawyers representing the family’s warring factions packed a downtown Toronto courtroom for an all-day hearing on Selena’s motion.

While Belinda’s children, equestrian sports Nicole Walker and globe-trotting DJ Frank Walkerlead relatively public lives, their cousin has stayed out of the limelight.

An online search reveals so few photos of Selena that reporters in the courtroom Thursday whispered to each other, wondering if a young woman with dark hair in a back corner of the courtroom could be her.

It wasn’t. None of the Stronachs followed the proceedings in person.

The youngest Stronach’s attorney even declined to say whether Selena could be seen in a photo taken last year at a company-owned thoroughbred horse racing complex in Florida.

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” Matthew Gottlieb said when a reporter showed it to him photo and asked if the caption was accurate to identify his client.

Gottlieb insisted that if the Stronach Group paid to cover up complaints against the family patriarch, CEO Belinda Stronach and her predecessor, Alon Ossip, surely would have known about it.

Ossip’s attorney, Mark Gelowitz, dismissed the claims as a “cascade of conjecture.”

“This is a tactical attempt by Selena to present these allegations against Belinda and Alon to embarrass them in a case that has received media attention,” Gelowitz told the court.

Belinda Stronach — a former Conservative MP for Newmarket — Aurora who was once best known for crossing the floor in 2005 to join the Liberal cabinet — is no stranger to legal battles within the family.

Year 2020, control of the Stronach fortune was split after she and her father settled a high-profile lawsuit that pitted Belinda against her parents.

“I am pleased that our differences have been resolved among ourselves,” Frank Stronach said in a statement at the time.

His wife of 60 years, Elfriede, died in March at the age of 80.

Reached by phone Friday, Frank Stronach said he had no comment on the latest civil case involving his children and grandchildren.

“There comes a time when there is more to say,” he added.