Andy Stronach sues sister

Andy Stronach, the son of the founder of The Stronach Group, Frank Stronach, has filed his own lawsuit alleging that his sister Belinda has mismanaged the business, repeating allegations that his father made in a suit filed in early October, according to published reports.

The lawsuit states that Andy Stronach, 50, owns a 23 percent stake in The Stronach Group, the sprawling racing and realestate company that Frank Stronach set up in 2011. The Stronach Group was formed after two separate publicly traded companies controlled by Frank Stronach that owned the assets went bankrupt. Andy Stronach’s lawsuit alleges that Belinda Stronach engaged in “serious misconduct” in managing the company since 2013, according to the Toronto Star.

The suit names Belinda Stronach, two of her children, and Alon Ossip, a former chief executive of The Stronach Group, as defendants.

The lawsuit makes nearly identical allegations against the defendants as a suit filed on Oct. 1 by Frank Stronach and his wife. That suit said that The Stronach Group consists of 253 family-owned corporations, trusts, and other entities, and that Belinda Stronach had conspired with Ossip to illegally gain control of a number of those entities since Belinda took a position with the company in 2013.

The suit filed by Frank Stronach had alleged that Andy Stronach’s interests in the company also were jeopardized by Belinda Stronach and Ossip. Andy Stronach and his daughter are beneficiaries of a trust within The Stronach Group called the Andrew 445 Trust, the suits claim.

Andy Stronach has played off-and-on-again roles within The Stronach Group, and the suit states that he is “involved in Thoroughbred horse racing and owns and operates farms in Ontario,” according to the Toronto Star.

Several years ago, Andy Stronach administered a controversial project at The Stronach Group’s Portland Meadows racetrack in Oregon in which he owned all of the horses that started in a sequence of races that were tied together through a multi-race jackpot-type bet.

Belinda Stronach has denied the allegations in the suit, and in a statement released in response to Andy Stronach’s lawsuit, she said that the suit “is an extension of my father’s legal proceedings against me and my children, and the allegations remain just as untrue.”

Frank Stronach’s lawsuit is seeking approximately $400 million in restitution and damages and the reinstatement of his control over the family trusts within the company.