Montreal billionaire Robert Miller facing new $8M lawsuit after allegations involving teen girls

A wealthy Montreal businessman who stepped down from the tech company he founded after being accused of sexually exploiting underage girls is facing a new lawsuit.

Robert Miller, according to this latest legal proceeding filed Wednesday in Superior Court, was the alleged mastermind behind the so-called "Miller Network" described in the lawsuit as "a complex and organized network whose main objective was to recruit underage girls to satisfy Robert Miller's sexual urges."

The plaintiff, whose identity is not revealed in the document, is suing Miller, his company, Future Electronics Inc., two of its executives and Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel for $8 million.

The allegations of paying underage girls for sex were first published in an investigative report on Miller by CBC/Radio-Canada on Feb. 2. The report featured multiple women who claimed they were recruited by the Montreal billionaire's associates and brought to the Montreal hotel, as well as two homes in Westmount, on several occasions to engage in various sexual acts with him.

After the report was published, a statement from Future Electronics, based in the Montreal suburb of Pointe-Claire, said Miller "adamantly and vehemently denies" the allegations and that he resigned as CEO in order to "focus on his very serious health issues and devote his attention to the protection of his reputation."

The lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Montreal law firm Calex is from one alleged victim, who claimed she was approached in 2001 as a teenager in high school by a friend to meet with Miller. After their first meeting, she and her friend left with envelopes with $1,500 cash after a sexual encounter, the lawsuit alleged.

She came from a low-income, immigrant family and at the time, she was "not only vulnerable but also easily influenced and impressionable," according to the lawsuit.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested in court.

For more than 20 years, the plaintiff was an alleged victim of Miller, who allegedly "hid behind various stakeholders, including key employees of Future Electronics, in order to recruit his victims."

"Robert Miller always took the time to get to know and take an interest in his victims in order to better control them, in particular by understanding their passions and ambitions and then promising to make those dreams come true."

The lawsuit described the plaintiff's unsuccessful attempts to leave the situation she found herself in. For example, in 2002, she had a boyfriend, who found out about her relationship with Miller. He broke up with her, which led to a period of isolation and depression. At one point, she tried to kill herself and then turned back to Miller for comfort. He allegedly showered her in gifts, including expensive trips, including one to Walt Disney World, a condo on the Montreal's South Shore, a car, and even covered her fitness classes.

"Obviously, these numerous gifts were made by Robert Miller with the manifest aim of pleasing the Plaintiff and thus of maintaining a psychological and economic hold over her, driving her further and further into a circular position of dependence and vulnerability," the lawsuit alleged.

"The Miller Network was a complex and well-thought-out network, which preyed on the psychological and economic vulnerability of the victims," according to the allegations in the lawsuit, "especially since they were adolescent girls in search of existence, in order to reinforce the dependence of its victims and to keep them within the system."

The lawsuit noted Forbes estimated Miller's personal fortune in 2023 at US$1.8 billion and nearly US$2.5 billion in 2011.

Over time, the meetings were moved from the Queen Elizabeth Hotel into two homes in Montreal's Westmount neighbourhood, where the plaintiff claimed she left — after sexual encounters with Miller — with all kinds of gifts stuffed into a hockey bag. In a closed room, she was able to choose from jewelry, money, Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags, as we well as coats and boots.

It's what the lawsuit claimed was the "vicious circle of dependence."

PLAINTIFF CONTRACTED HPV

Miller, the lawsuit alleged, never wore condoms. The plaintiff contracted HPV "following unprotected sex at the request of Robert Miller, putting her at risk of developing various medical complications," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also points the finger at two Future Electronics executives, Sam Joseph Abrams and Helmut Lippmann, who allegedly were part of "The Miller Network."

Abrams was allegedly the "right-hand man" of Miller who served as a "direct intermediary between the victims, including the plaintiff, and Robert Miller," meanwhile, Helmut Lippmann, Future Electronics' executive vice-president, was also "highly involved" in the Miller Network, and allegedly provided financial support to the alleged victims.

The actions of both men, the lawsuit alleged, "stemmed directly from their functions within Future Electronics and that their involvement as right arms of Robert Miller allowed them to gain notoriety at Future Electronics and thus have access to management positions."

The lawsuit also alleges that staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel should have known underage girls were going up to Miller's room but instead "turned a blind eye to the illegal practices that were taking place in their establishment."

The plaintiff is seeking $1 million in compensatory damages from Miller, Future Electronics, Abrams, and Lippmann, as well as the following in punitive damages:

• $5 million from Miller
• $1 million from Future Electronics
• $500,000 each from Abrams and Lippmann
• $250,000 from Queen Elizabeth Hotel

In late February, a woman also filed a request to authorize a class-action lawsuit against Miller. The Canadian law firm Consumer Law Group is seeking additional plaintiffs, aiming to grant them each $1.5 million in punitive damages and various amounts for psychological injury.