No fewer than 10 women and teenage girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by Robert Miller. The Quebec billionaire has just been accused of a plethora of charges. The youngest victim was under 14 years old.
According to arrest warrants obtained by The Press, Robert Miller is targeted by 21 counts. There are numerous charges of sexual assault, sexual exploitation in a context of authority and obtaining sexual services from a minor. Eight of the alleged victims were under the age of 18.
In a second case, Robert Miller is accused of having sexually assaulted a woman in 2016 in Montreal. Additionally, no charges cover the period between 2005 and 2016.
The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) must provide an update on this subject shortly. Mr. Miller and his criminal lawyers had an appointment with investigators and joined them at a pre-determined location so that they could execute a warrant for which he was the subject. He was later released and will appear in court at a later date.
The SPVM had already conducted an investigation into Robert Miller 15 years ago. At least five girls agreed to make sworn statements filmed at the police station, in which they incriminated Mr. Miller for paid sex with minors. But after studying the file, crown prosecutors refused to lay charges.
Mr. Miller, founder of the multinational Future Electronics, was already one of the richest men in Quebec at the time. The investigators’ sworn statements filed in court in 2009 and obtained by The Press last year clearly showed how complicated it can be for the police to track down a suspect who has almost unlimited means to defend himself and protect his interests.
According to the police, whose 2009 allegations have never been tested in court, Mr. Miller had a personal guard of retired police officers who watched over his safety. Witnesses and victims were warned to keep quiet, others even said they were intimidated. Lawyers had claimed professional secrecy privilege to prevent access to certain documents even before the start of a police search. Lawyers had been paid by the billionaire to represent some of the alleged victims, and had advised them not to answer certain questions from the police.
Before the police entered the scene, André Savard and John Westlake, two private detectives, themselves former Montreal police officers of the old school, had carried out an investigation into Miller’s frequentations, at the request of his former marry. They had documented the numerous visits of young women to Mr. Miller.
Westlake had said that an employee of Mr. Miller offered him $300,000 to stop his investigation, which the employee always denied.
The private security firm Garda then continued the investigation by private detectives. All the conclusions of this process initiated by the ex-wife had been shared with the SPVM.
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In 2023, the issue resurfaced through a Radio-Canada report. Six women told the public channel that they had been recruited to offer him sexual services when they were teenagers, between 1994 and 2006, which Mr. Miller vigorously denies.
Mr. Miller’s lawyer, Mr.e Karim Renno, told The Press that these allegations had been maliciously encouraged by the businessman’s ex-wife, Maragret Antonier.
“She is the one behind all these allegations. She encouraged, manipulated and paid several young women with the sole objective of damaging Mr. Miller’s reputation,” he said.
The report pushed the SPVM to restart a criminal investigation and allowed the police to collect new testimonies.
Mr. Miller has since sold Future Electronics to a Taiwan company for $5.14 billion.
Around fifty women have joined a request for class action against Robert Miller because they say they were recruited as teenagers to offer him sexual services. Others have taken civil action individually.