Montreal billionaire Robert Miller used child prostitution services in the second half of the 2000s and there was ample evidence to charge him criminally, assure The Press two investigators who spent months documenting his doings. Several speakers close to the case underline how much the authorities were then under pressure in the face of the battalion of lawyers mobilized by the businessman, who was never arrested and maintains his innocence.
Robert Miller left the presidency of Future Electronics on Friday, in the wake of a report by Radio-Canada. The show Investigation collected the testimonies of a dozen women who say they had sex for money with him between 1994 and 2006. Six of them said they were minors at the time of the events.
In a press release, Future Electronics says Mr. Miller is stepping down to focus on his health issues and “devote his attention to the legal proceedings related to the allegations made by Radio-Canada”.
“Mr. Miller strongly and vehemently denies the malicious allegations made against him and confirms that they are false and completely unsubstantiated and that they were raised following an acrimonious divorce. They are now being repeated for financial gain,” the statement continued.
The company also claims that a police investigation has been conducted and authorities have found the allegations to be unfounded.
“We were always like, ‘What if it was my daughter?’ »
This is not the opinion of André Savard, a former homicide investigator with the Montreal police. He was retired in 2006 when he was hired as a private detective to shed light on the hidden life of the billionaire. The order came from the businessman’s ex-wife. Savard was part of a team of half a dozen retired police officers assembled under the guidance of his former partner, John Westlake.
For weeks, they shadowed the businessman, his employees, the young girls who visited him. They placed cameras near his meeting places. They questioned several people.
“We saw the girls going out with gifts. There were girls controlled by street gangs,” he recalls in an interview.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
André Savard, detective who investigated Robert Miller
“We were always like, ‘What if it was my daughter?’ “, he says.
If he had still been a policeman at the time, would he have arrested the billionaire? ” Without a doubt ! “says André Savard.
“In our time, we would have arrested him and we would have found a prosecutor quickly to lay charges,” said the retiree in an interview with The Press. “Especially when it comes to young girls. You are ruining lives! “, he laments.
“We did good old police work: knocking on doors, following girls and their pimps when they were leaving, to their house,” says his friend John Westlake, also a homicide investigator turned private detective, who says he is convinced that the evidence is overwhelming.
Savard and Westlake handed over the evidence they had collected to investigators from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). The police force confirmed on Friday that it conducted an investigation between 2008 and 2009, then submitted the evidence to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP).
The role of the DCPP
According to our information, many testimonies had been collected. But according to several judicial sources, the DPCP prosecutors judged that the testimonies they had in hand were not strong enough to win a trial, in particular because of certain contradictions between different versions and the reluctance of certain victims to testify. in class.
The Crown declined to charge. It wasn’t because of the police. The police officers we met, they would have charged if they had been able.
André Savard, detective who investigated Robert Miller
In another time, he recalls, he worked with prosecutors ready to go to war in the most difficult situations. He pulls out a photo and shows the legends of the courthouse with whom he had countless criminals sent to prison: France Charbonneau, Yves Berthiaume, Lori Renée Weitzman, Annick Murphy, Stella Gabbino, Hélène Morin. “It was people with an extraordinary motivation,” he says.
Today, the reality for Crown prosecutors is different, he observes. It seems to be more difficult to get criminal charges laid and a conviction than it used to be. “It’s so another world,” he says.
John Westlake is tougher. “Prosecutors definitely didn’t do a good job job. But why did the police treat the girls like criminals? “, he asks, in reference to certain testimonies broadcast by Radio-Canada.
” A dream team à la OJ Simpson”
Money was an ever-present issue in the hunt for Robert Miller. André Savard and John Westlake told Radio-Canada that another former Montreal police officer, Stephen Roberts, offered them $300,000 each to drop the case.
“It would have been good, for me, $300,000. I would have had a nicer condo,” said André Savard, showing The Press the apartment he lives with his wife. “I would not have had small payment problems like sometimes. But what would my son have thought of me? You spend your life collecting quavers and you are offered to become quavers like them! »
It was a personal insult for me and André [Savard] to bring us closer like this.
Investigator-turned-PI John Westlake on the $300,000 offer
Through the mouth of his lawyer Julio Peris, Stephen Roberts vigorously denied these “false and unfounded” allegations. His lawyers say they are preparing “a legal action for damages” in connection with these “false allegations”.
Other sources close to the case, both among the lawyers and among the former investigators, mentioned the extent of the resources of Robert Miller, who had hired “a dream team à la OJ Simpson” bringing together a dozen of the best lawyers in town. They showed up at the police station, accosted Crown attorneys at the courthouse and followed them to the restrooms to pressure them and convince them not to press charges. Discussions even took place between the police and the DPCP on the possibility of filing a complaint against members of the Bar who exceeded the limits, according to a source who was informed of the internal debates at the Crown.
“There was so much pressure,” recalled a witness at the time who asked not to be identified.
“Miller, with all his lawyers, put a lot of pressure,” confirms John Westlake.
A mysterious lawyer
In its report broadcast this week, Radio-Canada also mentions a lawyer for Robert Miller who was present during certain meetings of complainants with SPVM police officers. Two sources from the judicial and police world consulted by The Press offered an explanation for this. This lawyer did not officially represent the billionaire, according to our information. It was Mr. Miller who would have paid him covertly, but officially, he was present as the representative of the victims, which gave him the right to attend the meetings.
“If a suspect asks to have his lawyer present when the police meet a complainant, it will not be accepted. This is inappropriate. Never, never, never,” says Inspector David Shane, spokesperson for the SPVM.
The inspector says he cannot comment on a specific case, but says that under their code of ethics, the police cannot advise a person to change lawyers.
The DPCP invited Friday “any person, victim or witness, who would have information on the facts related to the emission Investigation […] to contact the SPVM.
“If new elements are submitted to the SPVM, the DPCP will collaborate with the investigators and may revise the file”, specifies the organization.
“Each report is taken care of quickly and each piece of information is verified. New facts may lead to the reopening of an investigation,” added the SPVM in a press release.
John Westlake says he hopes Montreal police will reopen the investigation. He knows Fady Dagher, the organization’s new director, well.
“I hope it doesn’t stop there. The new chief of police, I worked with him on narcotics. He’s a good guy. We’ll see how he reacts. »
With the collaboration of Yves Boisvert and Daniel Renaud, The Press