A woman who says she was recruited from the age of 14 to satisfy the sexual urges of Montreal billionaire Robert Miller has just filed a new $11.4 million lawsuit against the businessman. The plaintiff claims she was under his influence for a decade, dropped out of high school and developed drug problems after meeting him.
The woman’s identity is being protected under a Superior Court order. She says she was recruited at a very young age by “the Miller Network”, which her lawyers describe as a system of recruiting young girls for the purposes of juvenile prostitution.
The complainant immigrated to Montreal at the age of 13 with her family. She grew up in a very modest and strict environment. At 14, she was hired in a Verdun massage parlor, Angel Spa. She claims that sexual services were offered there, but that she was initially unaware of it. The managers of the place were also arrested for pimping a few years later.
“Mister Wonderful”
At the massage parlor, there was a special customer known by the nickname “Mister Wonderful,” the suit claims. According to the complainant, it was Mr. Miller.
“On each of Robert Miller’s visits, the salon operated exclusively for him, the lights were completely closed and he entered only through the rear door of the Salon, in order to ensure the confidentiality of the illicit activities,” describes the lawsuit, written by lawyers Jean-Philippe Caron, Gabriel Bois and Janique Soucy, from the Calex Légal law firm.
The complainant claims that when she first met Mr. Miller, she gave him a normal massage, without sexual services. But the client came back to her often afterward offering lots of money for sex, and she started complying when she was 14, she said. She assures that she had told him that she was attending secondary school.
“It is apparent that Robert Miller was completely indifferent as to the plaintiff’s age,” the suit alleges.
Invited to a house in Westmount
The woman claims that Mr. Miller then moved their meetings to a house on Olivier Street, in Westmount, which was owned by a numbered company. At the age of just 15, she allegedly began visiting him there and having full-length sex for money, which was to take place without a condom at his request, she says.
The numbered company which owned the house had as directors and shareholders over the years several lawyers from large Montreal offices, underlines the suit: Me Samuel Minzberg, of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, then Me Wilfrid Lefebvre, of Norton Rose Fulbright, then Me Jules Charrette, from the same firm. Robert Miller was not listed as the owner, but in 2023, when he was hit with allegations of sexual abuse of minors, the numbered business was transferred into his name.
“It is very likely that Robert Miller was always the real beneficiary of [l’entreprise à numéro] and that all previous directors and shareholders acted directly and/or indirectly on behalf of Robert Miller,” the suit claims. In it, the woman describes Mr. Miller as a suspicious man who knew he was being hunted by the police and who put all kinds of measures in place to avoid being caught. Me Jules Charrette has already explained to The Press that he had no comment to make on this matter. Me Minzberg and Me Lefebvre had not yet reacted at the time these lines were written.
Depression and eating disorders
The plaintiff claims to have stopped going to high school and working to live solely on the amounts paid by the billionaire. She says she attended it for four years as a minor, then about six years after coming of age. She says she began using drugs and experienced psychological problems “that were a direct result of the isolation, lingering shame, and distress created by the Miller Network.”
“Plaintiff suffered from depression, in addition to severe eating disorders and drug use,” the suit states.
The woman is now seeking $11.4 million in damages from Robert Miller, his former company Future Electronics (which was just sold to a Taiwan company), and Sam Abrams, a former employee of the company who allegedly participated at the “Miller Network”.
It was the broadcast of a Radio-Canada report in February that started the denunciations targeting Robert Miller. The journalistic investigation mentioned around ten women who say they had sex for money with the billionaire. Six of them allegedly claimed that they were minors at the time of the events.
Since then, a request for class action joined by around thirty alleged victims has been filed at the Montreal courthouse. As of today, three women are also suing Mr. Miller individually, describing a modus operandi similar.